Trapped
by ShimmeringCrimson
Summary: The Earl picked up Allen Walker on that fateful night. However, the Earl hides him from the rest of the world, including the rest of the Noah Family. Chaos will erupt, one way or another. Noah!Allen at some point.
1. Prologue

**Helloooo! It's nice to see all of you out there! I have decided to write a new story, due to the fact that it has been bothering me for quite some time now. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this, for if I did, I would own the freaking WORLD by now. Seriously.**

* * *

"Hello. My name is the Millennium Earl."

"Mana Walker...Shall I resurrect him for you?"

Tears trailed down a dirty face as he looked up, nodding slightly.

"Al...len...How dare you...turn me into an akuma...?"

"Allen! How could you do this!"

"I curse you! I curse you, Allen Walker!"

His left hand erupted from the mitten, dragging its body along with it as it crawled to the akuma.

"What the...? It's moving on its own...!"

A giant claw flew through the air, crashing into the akuma skeleton.

"Mana...? Stop! Leave Mana alone!"

"Run...RUN, FATHER!"

"Allen...I...Love you..."

"Please destroy me."

* * *

The Earl really didn't know what on earth he was doing. First of all, he had a limp, bloody ten-year-old slung over his shoulder. Second, said boy was an accomodater of Innocence. It just didn't register in his mind why he was taking him home with him. It was as if he did it involuntarily.

The boy didn't even struggle when the Earl had picked him up and plopped him over his shoulder, and he was currently unconscious. His back felt damp from where the boy's tears had soaked through his coat, and from the blood dripping down his face. As the Earl opened the Ark, he entered the extra room in which no one ever used, which contained a spare bed and a desk in the corner.

And the boy flopped down on the bed, groaning as he bounced up into sitting position. Blinking groggily, he blinked slowly as he felt something warm and wet on his face. He tenderly touched the scar on his face, looking shocked as his fingers came back red. As he slowly lifted his head to meet the Earl's ever-grinning face, his expression turned dull as he remembered the night's events.

"What's your name?" The Earl asked gently, sitting next to him. The child backed up, hair shadowing over his eyes. Speaking of hair, it was slowly turning white from the roots down.

"...Allen," he hesitated. "Allen Walker." The Earl blinked, smiling wider. "It's nice to meet you again, then. I suppose I'll reintroduce myself. I'm the Millennium Earl." He nodded his head, still grinning.

Allen hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "Why did you take me here?"

The Earl looked at him curiously. "I don't know, actually," he said mildly.

"You're weird," the traumatized child said, smiling slightly as he peered out at him from the corner of his eye.

The Earl blinked, looking rather surprised at the change of attitude from the young boy. "I'm sorry, but I'm rather confused. Shouldn't you hate me by now? After all, I did turn your father into an akuma."

"Adoptive father," he muttered automatically, out of habit. He looked at him weirdly, frowning now. "But it was my fault, right? If I hadn't accepted your offer, this wouldn't've happened. You were just doing your job. I think. 'Cuz, I mean I don't think you just go down to a specific kid and be all like, 'Want me to revive your dad?' and all that stuff because that would be _really _mean to just pick me and-" His rambling was cut off as the Earl held up a hand to silence him. Really, this child just could not shut up.

"Yes, it is my job," he smiled, still looking surprised. "But usually my vic-_clients,_" he corrected hastily. "blame me for what happens to them and their loved ones."

The now-whited-haired boy shrugged, then asked tentatively, "Um. Could you, please, get this blood off of me?" Finally, the blood had stopped flowing out, but it didn't change the fact that half of his face was covered in blood, some of it already dried partially. The Earl laughed delightedly. "My apologies, I'll be right back."

And so, the Earl was given time to think as he went down the hallways to the bathroom. What should he do with this orphaned child? Kill him?_ No_, he suddenly realized, _this boy has somehow managed to make his way to my heart in a matter of minutes. _So of course, the Earl also abandoned the thought of leaving him on the streets to fend for himself.

But really, this child was just too troublesome. He was too cute for his own good. The Earl also dismissed the idea of introducing him to the family or something of the sort, seeing as most of the Noahs would probably react negatively to the Innocence that Allen wielded. That, and the Earl was rather selfish and wanted to keep the boy to himself. It would be rather nice to have a secret who would keep him cheerful when he felt depressed.

Before, _he _could do that easily. _He _had gotten so close to the Earl's heart, and destroyed it without a second thought. _He _was the only one who could even brighten up the Earl's day, and make him feel so special.

Until now. Somehow, _somehow, _this mere boy had done the impossible: Make the Earl himself truly happy. It sounded incredous, because he hadn't even been talking to him for twenty minutes, and yet he had this calming aura that the Earl wanted to keep. It helped him forget.

He would keep him a secret, the Earl finally decided. He would give the boy his own room, and he would be kept hidden from the rest of the family, although he would be living in the same house. How ironic.

The Earl was back in the spare bedroom, holding a wet washcloth to Allen's face to soak off the blood. And then he began to scrub rather hard at the blood on his face.

* * *

"ARE YOU TRYING TO PEEL MY SKIN OFF?" the boy finally yelped, snatching the now-dirty cloth away from the Earl.

The Earl chuckled, face lit up with amusement. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to see how long you would last. You put up with that for quite while," he laughed again.

Allen scowled at him, pouting as he crossed his arms. "I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day," he muttered, looking absolutely adorable.

The Earl really had to admit that Allen had a very angelic face, now that all the blood was gone from his it. With his snow-white hair and stormy grey eyes, added to the now delicate yet harsh scar trailing across his eye, he looked like he was very delicate.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, forgive me?" he chuckled, grinning at the boy. Said kid burrowed under the covers, hiding his head in the pillow and refusing to talk to the older man no matter how many times he tried to persuade or bribe the white-haired child. He sighed, still amused. "Goodnight, Allen-kun," he grinned, closing the door.

Grey eyes glared playfully at him through the crack, before the door shut completely.

* * *

**So, please tell me what you think! It would mean a bunch to me if you would please spend a few minutes to leave a review!**

**Also, I know a lot of people have these kinds of "Earl picks Allen up" stories, but I don't think I've come across one where Allen isn't actually in the family. So, I decided that it would be rather interesting to twist it around a bit, ne?**

**R&R Thanks!**


	2. Behind the White Door

**HOLY CRAPADOODLES! Here I am, drinking diet Mtn Dew (honestly, I hate it, but no way am I drinking **_**water**_**) and listening to One Direction when BOOM. I check my email. And I'm like, "WOAH WHERE'D ALL THIS FOLLOWING AND REVIEWING STUFF COME FROM?" And then I realized...that you people, you kind, **_**kind **_**people are actually liking my story. I seriously almost spit out my drink when I saw all the alerts. So thank you so much!**

**Also, to AllenXME: It's a possibility, and I might consider it. Actually, I was kinda thinking that way before too, because ever since she kissed Allen, I decided that she was pure genius and they were meant to be together. So yeah. We'll see.**

**Oh, and to 'Guest', LMAO. XD **

**I, the unworthy wannabe writer, shall update just for you. :]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man, no matter how many times I wish it. Stupid wishing fountain, why won't you WORK? *kicks and stubs toe* OWWW~**

* * *

Road stared. And stared. And stared.

She really wanted to know what was behind that door. She really, _really _wanted to know.

See, it all began when she woke up and at the very end of the hall was a super-duper white sparkly door that was definitely not there when she had gone to bed. And _then, _the Earl came and called a meeting and went on blabbering about them not even being allowed to _touch _the door, because it was for him to know and them to probably not find out for a couple years. And, really, Road was just not good when it came to surprises. Especially long ones.

So she tiptoed down the halls in her fuzzy purple socks (so the others couldn't hear her, see?), and very, very carefully touched her hand to the doorknob.

And she was promptly flown back through the freaking _wall. _

At the very other end of the _hall. _**(A/N Haha, I rhymed! XD)**

"What the _heck?" _She groaned, wincing as the cut on her cheek slowly healed.

The Earl was already there, and he sighed. "Road, _dear, _do you remember what I said about not touching the door?"

Road moaned, her head making an audible _thump! _as she went limp in defeat, head falling down on the floor. "You might have mentioned it," she muttered weakly, knowing that her arguements probably weren't going to help her much in this one.

He grinned wider. "So, why would you touch it?"

"But, _Earl," _the girl whined. "It's not _fair! _You said we won't get to see what's in there for _years! _I won't be able to last that long! I'll die and it'll be all your fault!"

The Earl chuckled darkly. "I suppose you'll just have to wait it out then."

Road grimaced as she saw his eyes turn toward the damage that had been caused when she had been thrown back.

"And," the Earl continued, just to ruin her day, "You're grounded. For the rest of the week. Plus you have to pay for the cost of the wall that you so kindly destroyed."

"But that was your fault!" she protested. "If you hadn't put that whatever-charm-thing the wall wouldn't be broken!"

"Yes, but I _did _warn you not to touch it," he hummed. "Oh, I just had a marvelous idea!" If possible his creepy grin widened even _further. _

"What is it?" Road asked warily, knowing that she would not like this idea at _all. _

She was right. "I think that this is the perfect opportunity for you to have a father-daughter bonding day with Sheryl!"

Road groaned. This was the worst day _ever._

* * *

Tyki smirked at the complaining girl at his door. "So, basically, you didn't listen to the Earl's warning and now you're grounded _and _you had to spend the _entire _day with Sheryl?"

He doubled over in laughter. "So, how was your day?" he grinned at the pouting girl.

"Weren't you _listening?_" she demanded, glaring daggers at the chuckling Tyki. "It was _horrible. _He made me play _dress-up, _and _dollies," _she moaned.

Tyki couldn't even stand anymore because of how hard he was laughing. "Oh god, that is _priceless,"_ he said, wiping off a tear. "He seriously made you play with dolls?"

"Yes! Something about wanting to 'preserve his little girl.'"

The Noah of Pleasure (oh, _yes, _I think we all know what that means) rolled his eyes. "It's your own fault," he said, exhaling smoke from his cigarette. "You should've just listened to the Earl."

"But aren't you curious too? I mean, that door is just so sparkly!"

"If you're trying to convince me to help you get through that door, it's not working. There is no way I'm going to spend an entire day with my brother for punishment."

Road stomped her foot. "But, _Tyki! _I'll...I'll buy your cigarettes for a whole year!"

Tyki paused, smirking. "All three hundred and sixty-five days?"

She glared furiously at him. "You knew I was going to offer you something! You little _cheat!" _

He shrugged, still smirking. "What can I say? It was just so easy."

"You better have a _really _good plan because those cancer sticks are _really _expensive."

* * *

Lulubell was a tad freaked out. For one thing, Sheryl was practically _skipping _around her, blah blah blah-ing about his little girl. She could only imagine that Road had gotten into some kind of trouble and had been forced by the Earl to spend time with her adoptive father.

Speak of the devil, Road had entered the dining room, looking both delighted and distraught. That also wasn't a good thing, because why would _Road _be delighted if she had had to spent time with Sheryl?

And _then, _Tyki entered the scene, looking very, _very _smug. Seriously, was she the only one here who _didn't _know what was going on? Happy Sheryl, delighted Road, smug Tyki. Heaven _forbid, _what would be next, a singing and dancing Earl?

"La la laaaa!" And the Earl came spinning around into the room.

Good _Lord. _

This was just too much. Lulubell then decided that she would go take a nap.

Transforming into a cat, she stalked off to go find a comfy chair to sleep on for the rest of the day, because this was obviously just some weird dream.

* * *

Allen had had a very good day. He had a big white bed, a big bowl of chicken noodle soup in his lap, and warm, clean clothes. Seeing as he had pretty much been homeless his entire life and lived in a tent most of the time, this was a dream come true. Also, the Earl had visited him again.

Allen had taken a liking to the Earl. Well, he pretty much got his full trust when he had brought an entire tray of food, piled up with various different treats. The Earl had been simply delighted when he had asked him for seconds.

The white-haired boy licked the bowl clean, sucking on the spoon to get all traces of the broth gone. Yawning, he flopped back against the bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I wonder why the Earl didn't want me to go outside the door," he mused, eyeing the gigantic door with curiousity. The Earl had plainly stated that he was not allowed for any reason at all to exit the room, which caught him completely by surprise. Other than that, though, there weren't really any rules.

Hmm...The boy really looked around the room with his eyes for the first time since he had arrived, noting the large piano in the room. It was pretty large, and completely white. It reminded him of the room. Big and white. However, the keys were black, which, in Allen's opinion, was pretty cool.

The piano was in there only because the Earl had decided to play him a song on the piano. It was actually Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, only it wasn't some petty little kid version that you would usually learn when you first start. If he remembered correctly, it was the "12 Variations" of it by Mozart. It was amazing.

Standing up hesitantly, Allen made his way towards the grand piano. He delicately sat down on the piano bench, lifting up the cover of it. His finger tapped one of the keys, it's low sound ringing out through the room.

And then, somehow, his hands were flying across the keys, and a voice was singing inside his head. It was shaky and growing stronger, but it had a terrible beauty that rather frightened Allen.

_And so the little boy_

_Fell into his slumber..._

_Drawing breath,_

_The fire within the ashes_

_One...after another_

_Rise up and expand_

_Into that beloved face,_

_Suspended from Earth..._

_Thousands of dreams..._

_On the night when those silver eyes trembled_

_You were "born"_

_Shining brightly_

_Hundreds of millions of months and years_

_No matter how many prayers are returned to Earth..._

"I shall...continue to pray...," Allen breathed, eyes wide as the song trailed off.

And then the door closed, the Earl clapping and looking as if all his dreams had come true. "That was amazing, Allen-kun!"

The pre-teen spun around, spluttering. "E-Earl! I'm sorry, I-I was just curious and I don't know what happened because I was suddenly playing and this song came out and this is really weird and I don't know anything! Sorry!"

The Earl laughed. "What is there to be sorry about? That was marvelous! It seems that you are very special."

Allen blinked, looking confused. "Special...? How so?"

The Earl grinned down at him. "Allen-kun...I'm going to tell you a story. Sit down over here, okay?" He patted on the bed, so the boy willingly crashed into the bed, making the bed wobble around.

And so the Earl began to explain about exorcists, and how they wanted to kill his family, the Noahs. "Why?" Allen interrupted, wide-eyed.

"Because we have...a certain goal," the Earl hesitated. He then began to tell about this goal, and Allen gasped. "But isn't that mean?"

"You'll understand in a few years," the Earl reassured him. Allen still looked inconvinced, so he hurried to tell about the Fourteenth and how he betrayed them.

By the time the Earl had finished explaining every single detail, including the war with the exorcists, Allen looked horrified. But not at the Earl, thankfully. "You mean _I'm _the host for the Fourteenth?"

"Yes," the Earl said gently.

"So...so I'm part of your family, then?" Allen looked more calmed at that statement when the Earl nodded. "Well...I guess that's not _too _bad, because you're so nice..."

The Earl was looking at him curiously, and then Allen continued to talk, saying thoughtfully and very strongly, "But I'm not like the Fourteenth! I'll never leave your side, and I'll never betray you, so it'll be okay, right?" The boy looked over at the Earl, smiling.

"Yes," the Earl murmured. "Yes, it will all be okay." He smiled at Allen. Then he glanced over at the white clock that was currently hanging over the door, blinking in surprise. "Look at the time! It's way too late for you to be up! Get to bed, and I'll visit you tomorrow, okay?"

Allen pouted. "But I'm not tired!"

"You will be once I close the door."

"Will not!"

"We'll see." The Earl grinned, saluting to the younger boy. "Night, Allen-kun."

"Night, Earl-sama," Allen grumbled, still sitting up. The Earl chuckled, closing the door. He waited a minute before cracking it back open, peeking in.

The boy was already crashed out on the bed, soft snores coming from him.

* * *

"So, what's the plan?"

Tyki was in Road's room, sighing continously because he wasn't allowed to smoke in her room. He had learned that the hard way, unfortunately.

The Noah of Dreams was bouncing on her heels, glancing out the door every few seconds to see if the Earl had exited the room or not. Seriously, the man had been in there, for, like, _ever._ What could be so interesting that the Earl would spend hours at a time in there?

Tyki smirked. "We'll try to get in the room by trying different ways first, to see if anything works against it." He grinned, then. "If we need to, we'll have to enlist the other Noahs' help."

Road frowned as she peeked out the door again. "He's not coming out," she scowled, frustrated.

The older man sighed again, rolling his eyes. "How about this? I'll meet you back here at two. It's midnight already. The Earl will probably be done by then, and if he thinks someone will try to break in, he'll think it'll be done right after he comes out. So it's the perfect plan."

Road looked awed at the man's intelligence. "Why can't you be this smart with my homework?" she demanded.

"Because it's boring. Now go stab something to death for fun or something. You like to do stuff like that. I'll meet you in here later."

* * *

**Okay, thank me now. **_**Thank me NOW. **_**That took forever, like, three or four hours. Not including editing it all out. I really hope you're satisfied. Anyway, on to other things.**

**Oh, Tyki, how I love writing you. Road too. Lulubell's okay, because it's fun to see how she views everyone. But seriously. Tyki, you are soooo schmexy. XD**

**I may or may not update tomorrow, because I have to go to a babysitting class, for various reasons. One, I want be a babysitter to get some cash. (No dip, Sherlock) Two, I'm going to have a baby brother very, very soon and I need to learn how to take care of him when my stepmom and my dad decide to stick me with the job. He's due on August second, and his name's going to be Zachary Van :] We're gunna call him Van XD**

**Oh, and probably to all of your relief, I am no longer drinking that awful drink called Mtn Dew. I'm drinking Dr. Pepper! It's not even funny how much I like Dr. Pepper. When I went to camp, my nickname was literally Pepper, because I was always drinking Dr. Pepper, and my now-BFF had forgotten my name and I was wearing my Dr. Pepper shirt when we were kayaking. So now we are known as Salt & Pepper. XD**

**Also, if you haven't heard the Twelve Variations of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I'm not talking to you until you listen to it. It is freaking A-MA-ZING. And the lyrics to the Fourteenth's Melody/Lullaby/Song/Thing, I put it in english so you could actually, you know, read it. XD I dunno if that's the correct translation though because I just used them from the manga, so yeah. Anyway.**

**Please spend some time to leave a review if you could, it would mean a lot! Thanks!**


	3. Sadistic Spiker and Homeless Hobo

**Here we go again.…My inbox is raided. Like, big time. This is a big achievement, even if there's only 16 reviews currently. Thanks to all you guys who are following and favoriting! :D**

**I have a problem. D: It is currently eleven o'clock at night, I am sitting in the dark listening to the radio on my mom's clock, and the internet is down. I'm on Word right now, and the only thing I have to do is write. You better be glad that the internet isn't working right now. I've tried reading on my mom's phone (cuz I don't have internet on mine), but it's just not working out for me. So I've been rereading your reviews for motivation (it would help if there were more *hinthint*).**

**Ohhhh, you **_**better **_**be happy I'm writing. Because Justin Beiber just came on the radio and the radio is, like, across the room. **

**Guest: Maybe. :] You'll just have to keep reading, ne?**

**Animeangel2798: I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it. XD It really makes me feel better!**

**Everyone else: *youguysaren'timportantenoughtolist* I'm kidding XD But you guys basically told me to update, so here it is!**

**Disclaimer: Minnie-chan does not own D. Gray Man in any shape, form, or way.**

* * *

_Finally. _Road glared at the door as the hour hand on her alarm clock tocked on to two o'clock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

"He's late!" Road growled furiously. She glared at the doll that had been ripped to shreds in her boredom as if it was its fault. Then Tyki appeared through the wall, looking pretty tired.

"Tyki! You're, like, late! I was waiting forever!"

Tyki blinked very, very slowly. Then he said, "I was late by literally three seconds."

"Whatever. What if the Earl catches us?"

"He won't," Tyki yawned. "I talked to him about an hour ago. He'll be off doing something until, like, dinner tomorrow. So we have until your school starts."

"I'm skipping," Road deadpanned. "We'll need every second of it."

Tyki shrugged. "Fine with me."

The girl opened the door very quietly, poking her head out. "Coast clear!" she whispered to Tyki, then looked around for something in the shoulder bag she was carrying. "Here, I got us walkie-talkies too, in case we get separated or some crap like that."

Tyki raised an eyebrow at the bag. "What do you have in there, anyway?"

Road shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing really. Just some rope, a water bottle, a bag of Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its, a flashlight, nail polish, everything I need for survival."

The older man snickered. "You need nail polish for survival?"

"And tampons," Road hummed.

Tyki choked. "Okay, too much information there. If Sheryl found out I had a conversation with you about _tampons _he would kill me."

She just grinned in response.

"What're we gonna do?" she asked, staring at the big door.

"I'll try to go through it with my Choose, first, I guess."

He took a deep breath and stuck his hand into the wall. Road cheered with glee. "It works!" she jumped in the air. Tyki rolled his eyes, although he did feel a bit smug as his leg went through.

However, when he tried to put his head through, it just plain stopped. "Hmm," he blinked, trying to move the arm in the wall. It couldn't bring it back out.

Road blinked, looking crestfallen before grinning wickedly. "You look retarded," she commented smugly, eyeing Tyki up and down, with his body halfway through the wall.

"Shut up, Road."

* * *

Allen was awakened by a banging on the wall. From the inside, that was.

Rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, he clicked on the lamp that was perched on his nightstand.

"HOLY-," he shouted, jumping back, only to slam into the bed post. "Ugh…" he moaned, clutching his head. Face hiding in his hands, his head turned up in the direction of the continuous banging from the hand protruding from the white wall.

His fingers separated to allow him to see through the cracks. Staring at the hand the entire time, he slowly pulled down his hands from his face before turning his head to look around the room.

Then he remembered what the Earl had given him the day before, saying that if any one came into the room other than the Earl or an akuma, to hit them with it. Allen hadn't understood what he had meant then, but now he got it.

So he reached his hand under his bed, left hand searching for something. It came back with a heavy item, fingers clutching it. He slowly stood up, making his way to the hand.

And he swung his powerful left arm back, swinging it forward with as much force as possible.

That was how the Millennium Earl's special hammer met Tyki Mikk's right hand.

* * *

One moment, Tyki had been experimenting with his new discovery, and the next he was being slammed out of the wall into Road, knocking the air out of both of them.

Currently, he was sucking on his throbbing fingers. "Something hit me with a hammer!" he insisted to Road, shaking his hand back and forth to cool it off. "A hammer!"

"I heard you the first ten times," she muttered, clutching her stomach. "Who knew you _weighed _so much?"

Tyki scowled at her. "At least you weren't hit with a hammer."

"I _get _it, you got hit with a freaking hammer, get over it!"

"Not until the swelling has gone down!"

Road rolled her eyes. "Well, that plan certainly failed," she said after a moment of silence.

"No _dip, _Sherlock."

"Well, what are we going to do now, then?" Road demanded. "You're the one who's supposed to be thinking up all the plans, aren't you?"

"Okay, okay, give me a second."

"I gave you _two hours."_

"Yeah, well, I decided to nap."

"_That's _why you told me to wait up for you for two hours? I hate you!"

"I hate you, too. It's good to know we have an understanding between us."

They both sat there and scowled at each other for a few minutes before cracking up into laughter.

"I've thought of something!" Tyki suddenly declared, grinning triumphantly.

"What?" Road demanded immediately.

"What's the magic word?"

"As if."

"I thought I'd give it a shot."

"You failed."

"Obviously."

"_Well?"_

"Well what?"

"What's your plan? You know, the one you just said you thought of?"

"Oh, that. I was serious when I said I wouldn't tell you if you didn't say please."

Road exhaled very slowly, gritting her teeth. "_Please?" _

Tyki smirked. "For my favorite niece, of course. Well seeing as I was hit by a _hammer," _he looked pointedly at Road, who rolled her eyes, "it seems that there would need to be someone to throw it, right?"

Road's eyes widened in realization, and she gasped.

"So all you would need to do is-," he was cut off.

"Is go inside their mind! That's genius, Tyki!"

"Of course it is," he replied modestly, smirking.

* * *

Darkness. That was the first thing Road saw as she closed her mind, reaching out to sense the mind behind the white door. As she pushed her mind closer, she could see a ball of white light shining brightly. Smirking, she reached out to touch it.

She was now in her Dream Room, but she couldn't quite see the person who had been in the room. As she leaned forward, she could see better of the figure, and the color. But that was the problem. From the person's size and figure, she could easily tell that it was a young boy. After that, the only thing she could make out of him was the color white.

Unable to see any further details, she took a step forward, trying to get closer to him. Only she found that after two steps, a barrier seemed to block her Dream, making it blurry past the wall.

Cursing bitterly, she brought out her walkie-talkie. "Sadistic Spiker to Homeless Hobo, Sadistic Spiker to Homeless Hobo, can you hear me?"

She could practically see her uncle scowling. _"Homeless Hobo?" _he demanded.

Road shrugged, although she knew Tyki couldn't see her. "Well, you are one half the time."

"_Sadistic Spiker?" _The man questioned, not finding a reasonable argument.

"I have spikey hair and I'm pretty sadistic."

"_True enough."_

Road rolled her eyes. "This is the part where you're supposed to tell me that I'm not at all sadistic, and I'm the sweetest thing in the world."

"_You want me to say the crap Sheryl spouts out all the time? Bull. Anyway, what do you see?"_

"Nothing! I just see a boy who _completely _white and blurry because there's a barrier in the way."

"_Barrier?"_

"Yeah, I think the Earl put up some kind of protection."

"_So it's a failure?"_

"Not completely. At least we know there's a young boy in there."

There was silence on the other end of the line. "What?" Road demanded.

"…_You don't think he went and got some girl pregnant and she died and he had to take their kid home with him, do you?" _

Road's jaw dropped. "Oh my God, you're probably right!" She gushed.

"…"

"…Well…I'll see you later, then…"

She could hear his breath as Tyki exhaled smoke. _"See you."_

* * *

After Road had gotten out of her Dream Room, as she liked to call it, they started plotting different schemes to get inside the room. The fact that there was the possibility of the Earl having a kid was mind blowing, to say at the very least.

Unfortunately, they had caused quite some damage when the hammer had hit Tyki earlier, so they obviously had to clean it all up. Which also delayed their ideas of what to do in order to get inside that oh-so-taunting room.

"Ugh," Road moaned. "This sucks."

"Stop complaining and hurry up! Do you want to actually have some time to try and get in that room or not?"

This had taken most of the day, because if they had gotten the akuma maids to come clean up the mess, the news would've gotten to the Earl immediately, seeing as he could see the things that were happening through an akuma. It was just a lot of bad luck for the two Noahs.

Speaking of two Noahs, the Noahs of Bonds were clacking down the hallway loudly just as Tyki and Road finished fixing up the place.

"What are you-," Jasdero started.

"Guys doing?" Devit finished.

Road's head snapped up, and her face broke into a malicious grin. Tyki had a smirk playing on his lips **(A/N I wish I could play on his lips)**, and a spark of deviousness that had absolutely _not _been there the minute before. They looked at each other and gulped.

"Oh, look at the time," Devit said nervously, backing up very, very slowly, like the prey of lion.

"We need to go! See you around," Jasdero followed his twin's lead, stepping up after him.

Suddenly candles were pointing at them from every angle. And they looked really, _really _sharp.

"Ne, Jasdevi, do you want to help me and Tyki with something~?" Road said sweetly.

* * *

Allen was pretty proud of himself. He had successfully hit a hand sticking out from a wall with a hammer and managed to get down the rules of poker in less than a day. He wasn't very good at the game, but practice made perfect, right?

The young boy had been utterly bored and had then found a deck of cards in an old drawer (he thought it was old because the white on it had been a darker white than the rest of the room). When he slipped out the cards from the checkered box they had come in, he had discovered that one of them had the rules on them, and another had different hands one could have, starting with the highest ranking one and going down.

Seeing as he had nothing to do, Allen had slowly learned how to deal cards and do the basics. Being too tired and rather bored with it at the moment, he neatly stacked the cards back into a pile and slipped them back into their rightful box.

He played with one of the new gloves he had found in the closet. He thought it fit him rather well, if he said so himself. It was almost as if it had been made for him.

_Then again, _the boy thought, _the Earl does do some really nice stuff. He seems like the kind of person who would get me fitted clothes. But how would he know my size and stuff?_

That seemed to be one of the many different mysteries of the Earl; you never knew what he would do next. Sometimes he would seem rather sad, and Allen would come and cheer him up. The Earl had seemed surprised that Allen could see through the facade, although Allen didn't really know why himself. To him, it was painfully obvious.

Slipping a hand through his thick white hair, he sighed loudly, wondering when the Earl would get back. He had promised that he'd come to visit him, after all.

* * *

Tyki was smirking at the nervous twins. "So," he finished off his explanation. "That's all you have to do. Got it?"

Road was playing with one of her sharp candles, it being there only in case Jasdevi attempted to make a run for it. Which they had, several times.

"Um. Yes?" Devit said, twitching as he glanced over at the candle in Road's delicate hand. Those things were way too sharp in his opinion. Plus, they looked even more sharp in those stupid fragile-looking hands (God knows how those two knew how much _that _wasn't true).

Jasdero grimaced, looking over at his twin. "Why did we have to be born in the family with all the crazy wackos?"

Devit sighed. "Just what I was thinking."

"So when do we have to do this thing?" they chorused together, looking at their bemused Noah siblings.

A puff of smoke escaped from Tyki's mouth as he flicked his cigarette away. "In thirty minutes. Get your guns, boys."

* * *

Lulubell glared suspiciously at the four innocent faces that were looking over at her. They were so up to something, and she would find out what it was. When she had found them all huddled around in a circle like some kind of football pep team did, she was at the very least worried. Her suspicions grew higher as they jumped apart, looking immensely guilty.

There was silence as they all looked at each other warily. Finally, Lulubell voiced her worries. "Tyki...Are you giving them drugs?"

Dead silence. Tyki looked outraged and offended. "_Really?" _he demanded. "You're suspecting me of giving these brats _drugs? _Do you have no faith in me?"

The blond Noah shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it's possible. After all, you've done worse before. Besides, the other day ago I found Jasdevi sneaking something that looked a suspiciously lot like weed in their rooms. Way to be discreet, by the way." She looked pointedly at the twins, who squirmed uncomfortably under her reproving glare.

"But why would you immediately suspect _me?" _Tyki muttered, still irked.

"Because you're not trustworthy," Lulubell deadpanned.

Road snickered, covering her mouth. The twins nodded in agreement. "Sorry, Tyki, but it's true," Devit grinned.

"And that's why I hate you all."

* * *

**Do you _know _what I did for you? A lot. I did a lot.**

**I stayed up until three in the freaking morning working on this yesterday, and today I wrote the rest here on fanfiction. But, do you know what happened right after I finished? _The internet connection failed. _It happened yesterday too, and I didn't know the system password because my mom doesn't know how to write things down. And I hadn't saved my work either. So, I had to rewrite another thousand words! Yaaaay! XP**

**How did babysitting class go, you ask? It was boring. I had four hours of sleep, so therefore I was trying my best not to fall asleep. At some point, it got very, _very _when me and my friend had to do this thing where one of us were pretending to be unconscious and the other had to roll them other by their _waist _and cradle their head. I couldn't even do it because I was laughing so hard.**

**But anyway. Please make sure to tell me what you think by leaving me a review! It would make my day. :]**


	4. Mass Destruction

**YES! TOTAL WIN!**

**My dreams have come true, and it's all thanks to you guys. :D I have hit over twenty views, AND I got long reviews. It surprises me that I got over twenty in only three days. Let's try to get to thirty! :] Thank you so much! Today is turning out to be a wonderful day. **

**I pretty much slept twelve hours last night. Because I seriously just woke up less than an hour ago, and it's about three now. I was exhausted. Now, I'll respond to the reviews. :D**

**FelesMagica: I dunno if they'll even get through that door for a couple chapters, let alone Allen getting in the family. :] After all, that would contradict the summery, wouldn't it? But maybe, you never know! Your comment inspired me, because I'm totally blushing from your praise. :D**

**Guest: Want to know a secret? ;] I'M WINGING THIS WHOLE STORY. Shh, don't tell anyone! XD Oh god, you people are probably going to kill me for that statement. But really, I'm not good with ideas until I'm in the middle of writing it. This whole story was made on a random day because the thought had annoyed me for too long and wouldn't let me rest. I still have no idea what will happen as the story progresses, although I have a slight idea. Also, the Earl does know. :D But remember, he's away doing something important. So he'll probably kill them when he gets back. XD**

**Midnight Phantasma: ….BWAHAHAHA! You should SEEN my face when I read your review. It was priceless. Your friend is totally wrong if she told you that. No, when a girl first gets her period they usually start out with pads, but eventually they'll switch to tampons. It has nothing to do with their virginity. I don't even know HOW I got in this conversation. Also, HOLY CRAP. You're good if you can sing this in Japanese without looking at the lyrics. :D**

**You guys are probably mad about me talking so long, so we'll get to the story now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man, because if I did, Allen and Road would probably be making out somewhere right now.**

* * *

Devit looked over at Jasdero, and complete understanding went through them; their life totally sucked, through and through.

_"I'll distract Lulubell while you two get in the room."_

They had decided that Tyki was good at making suicide plans, because clearly they weren't going to get out of this alive. It just depended on who would kill them first.

Nervously, they peeked around the corner at that huge door. Of course they were curious of what was behind it, but that didn't mean they were willing to face the Earl's wrath to see what was behind it. And if they didn't help Tyki and Road, they would have to face them. So either way they were dead. Great. Just great.

_"Road'll be distracting whoever's in there with her 'Dream,' but she won't be able to hold it up for long because of the barrier."_

Hands on their guns, they walked as slowly as possible to delay their fate. Lifting their guns up, they gulped as they glared accusingly at the door.

And then they fired their Blue Bomb at the door, freezing it over. "I really hope this works," Devit mumbled, receiving an agreeing nod from Jasdero.

_"You'll have roughly five minutes to get in there, so be_ _quick." _

"Red Bomb: Burning Red Planet," they chorused, causing a giant ball of fire to hurl itself at the frozen door.

Rubble surrounded them, destruction evident. Chunks of the wall had been torn off, and a large piece of the ceiling was laying off to the side.

A crack ran up the white door, evident that it would collapse easily.

_"Remember, if you cause any damage, you have to clean it up."_

"DANG IT!"

* * *

"You want to play ping pong with me," Lulubell said dubiously.

"Yes," Tyki nodded, looking oddly serious.

"Why?"

"I thought it would be good bonding time for us to do something together. We barely even talk to each other."

"There's a _reason _for that," she muttered.

"See? That's why we need to get to know each other better, because we obviously have communication problems."

"Um. _No._" She turned towards the door out, which lead to the hallway where the Jasdevi twins were currently occupying.

BOOM.

"What was that?" Lulubell demanded, staring at the door to the hall.

"Plan B it is," Tyki said cheerfully, rope somehow in his hand.

"What the-"

She was cut off as a frying pan hit her behind the head.

"Your _welcome,_" Road scowled. "My Dream almost broke. The twins have, like, thirty seconds."

"I'm surprised it lasted this long," Tyki commented as he tied Lulubell up.

She snorted. "You underestimate me." She paused she glanced over at the now-tied-up Lulubell. "Why did you tie her up? She's unconscious, she won't wake up any time soon."

"Because it's like we're in some kind of murder mystery. Besides, she was asking for it."

* * *

Allen had no idea where he was, and he really didn't care. One minute he had been perched in his chair, drawing boredly. The next minute, he was floating in some kind of candy world, because every sweet you could think of was there. Although, it was a bit blurry.

There were lollipops, cupcakes, gummy bears, honey buns, moon cakes, Smarties, licorice, jawbreakers, candy bars, peppermints, and a hundred other different kinds of desserts one could think of.

Translation: Allen was in heaven.

It was the only answer he could think of, because one) he was floating, two) there was candy everywhere, three) the candy was floating too, and four) there was candy everywhere.

If this was a dream, he sure didn't want to wake up anytime soon.

* * *

Road had thought up many different Dreams to show the boy and had debated between showing him candy or monster trucks. She had decided with candy, mostly because monster trucks were so totally _lame. _

Besides, who could hate candy?

So then she created the most wonderful world full of candy imaginable. That kid had better be happy, because she didn't show that kind of stuff to just anyone.

* * *

After cursing their bad luck, the twins looked over at the door. "Should we poke it or something?" Jasdero asked.

"It'll fall on us. We should throw something at it, or something like that."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Like...a stick. Or a rock. That door looks like it could fall over easily."

They looked around. It wasn't that hard to find a rock, seeing as there was junk all over the place from where everything had blown up. Devit tossed a rock in his hand, catching it repeatedly. Then he threw it as hard as he could, making it bounce against the long-hated door.

It creaked back, falling to the ground. Dust gathered up everywhere, making them unable to see. Devit pulled out his walkie-talkie, grinning madly. "Cool Commando to Sadistic Spiker, mission successful!"

There was a static for a moment before Road said, _"You go commando?" _

Devit scowled. "Just get out here!"

The door to the hall opened, and Road coughed. "What's with all the dust?"

"When the door fell down, it scattered everywhere."

Tyki was smirking. "Cool Commando?"

"Shut up!"

Jasdero grinned as the dust started to settle down.

"Looks like we'll finally be able to find out what's behind the door!"

* * *

Apparently, Allen had woken up. Such a shame, too. It really had been a delightful dream.

Only, once Allen got a hold of the situation, he realized that he there was dust everywhere. He sneezed loudly.

And then he heard a voice say, "Did you hear that? Hey, hey kid!"

He blinked. What had happened? His room was so dusty that he could barely see, so he couldn't see the one who had talked. It had sounded like a guy-perhaps around seventeen or eighteen.

He was both relived and frightened when the dust slowly started to settle down.

However, his worries were washed away when he saw a familiar large figure looming in the doorway.

The dust had completely settled down, so he could now see what was going on clearly. Well, actually the Earl was in front of him, back facing him. So he couldn't really see anything past him.

He blinked, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Earl? What's going on?"

* * *

Tyki was gaping like an idiot when he saw the Earl standing in the place of where the door once was.

Then he heard a small, sleepy voice say, "Earl? What's going on?" And a small white head popped out from beside him, looking at the strange group curiously. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly close enough to see him clearly, especially when his head was tilted toward the Earl and they could only see his head. That, and the fact that the only thing that registered in Tyki's mind was, _White. _

"Who are they?" the boy asked, suddenly more awake.

"No one, I'll sort it out," the Earl said, a creepy smile on.

"But-," he was cut off as the Earl stepped out of the doorway, and instantly a brand new white door appeared in the place of the old one.

"That's cheating!" Road exclaimed, looking furious.

"Yeah!" the twins agreed in harmony.

They looked at Tyki. He shrugged. "When did we have rules?"

The Earl still had that creepy grin on his face. "You children have created such a mess today," he sighed dramatically, taking a step forward.

They all took a step back together.

"We're so-," Jasdero moaned.

"Freaking dead," Devit shuddered.

"I guess that's one way you could put it," the Earl said, smiling all-too-pleasantly.

The four gulped. They had been so close, too. What a shame.

* * *

Allen was very upset when the Earl came back. And he made sure to let him know, too.

_"Earl," _he whined. "How come you left me out in all the fun? That is so not fair!"

"Allen-kun, they destroyed the entire hall."

The boy blinked. "Really?" He snorted. "You have a really dumb family."

The Earl sighed. "I know."

* * *

Road was upside-down, hanging over the edge of the couch. "My life sucks," she moaned.

The Jasdevi twins glared at her. "This is your fault!" Devit seethed.

"Yeah! Your fault!" Jasdero cackled.

"No it isn't! Tyki's the one who came up with the plan!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, don't try to go blaming things on me now. We wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't bribed me."

"You accepted, though."

"That has nothing to do with it."

* * *

**My chapters are rather short...So why does it take me so long to write them? **

**Anyway, I don't really have anything else to really say. Besides, I kinda took a lot of room for my rambling earlier, so I guess I'll just...leave...or something.*listening to "I Can Take Off My Panties" by Rin Kagamine***

**Please review, it would mean a bunch! Thanks to all you who are following me!**

**P.S. I forgot to tell you that their punishment will be in the next chapter. x3**


	5. Punishment

**YESYESYESOMIGODYES! You guys…rock. I have gotten up to thirty-one reviews, so this is the best day ever. I also have to thank Sapphire Kuran for being the thirtieth reviewer! *confetti explodes from the ceiling***

**Your comments have really helped me :D They're just so positive and nice….Also, I have to comment about how you guys are saying that I'm good at playing the Noahs characters. That was really the last thing I expected to hear from you, because I have little to no faith in myself XD But, that boosted me up! Thanks!**

**animeangel2798: I had to reply to this because you're so nice :D *glomps***

**mysteryangelcutlass14: I'm glad that you enjoyed it. :] Actually, I had never intended for this story to be humor, but I just did it by accident. Then I was like, "What the hay, let's do it!" And here we are! :D Also, OF COURSE I ACCEPT THE COOKIE! Who do you think I am? *munches on cookie***

**thatsadistinthealley: Since you reviewed three times, I'll say something for each one. :] R#1: Thank you! It's nice to think that someone considers this original! :D R#2: XD Who wouldn't want to? That cracked me up so much :] In truth, I've pitied the Earl for quite some time now. You just have to put yourself in the Earl's place, and you feel really bad for him. For some reason, I can always do the Noahs great, but I…fail at the exorcists. Speaking of which, at some point in the story they'll pop in, just to put a spoiler there. But I totally agree with you on the whole villain thing. R#3: …YOU'RE RIGHT! D: I sound so…wrong….XD I wasn't thinking so I was like, "Let's tell everyone what Japanese song you're listening to now!" And now I made myself look like…well…yeah. T.T OH WELL!**

**Midnight Phantasma: XD Well, thank you very much for the praises! Who wouldn't want to be in a Candy Dream World? :3**

**And I read My Immortal last night…it sucked. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even breathe. She took the concept of Emo Goths to a whole new level. I didn't know you could jank up characters that much either. Anyway, on to a story that has reasonable grammar!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man, because if I did, I would not be on this site writing these stories for you nuts out there. I would be rolling around in money.**

* * *

Tyki saw something very wrong with this picture.

First of all, he had a whole lot of lotion in his hand. Second, the Millennium Earl's foot was stretched out right in his face.

See what he meant?

Today was punishment day, apparently. It was a very bad day in Tyki's opinion.

The Portuguese man had had no idea that the Earl could be so creative with his punishments. The Earl had called the four there and gave this sickeningly sweet smiled that scared the crap out of Tyki, and then he began to give out his plans of their punishments. And that was how Tyki Mikk was assigned the job of being the Earl's personal massager for the rest of the day.

As much as the fact of being the Earl's massager sounded pretty bad, Tyki couldn't help but think that he had gotten off better than the Jasdevi twins and Road.

As the man wrinkled his nose, slowly rubbing his hands together to spread the lotion on them, he thought, _This is going to be a loooong day._

* * *

Road glared at the room she was in at the moment. It was a room that was way too big in her opinion. It was even bigger because it involved the worst punishment the Earl could make up for her.

The room in question was as large as a ballroom. What was so bad about this golden room, you ask?

It was littered with trash everywhere one could possibly think of. It was piled in stacks so that it towered over Road, scattered across the floor so that it was impossible to walk, and there was even some hanging from the chandelier.

But the worst part about this ballroom was the _smell. _It was just... disgusting. Road held up her hand to cover nose, coughing.

If there was one thing about Road Kamelot, it was that she _did not _clean. At all.

So when the Earl had assigned her the task of cleaning the room, she had thought she had the worst luck in the world. Until she opened the door and found the junk that came with it. Then she figured that she had the worst luck in the entire dimension.

If she died, would her body become lost in the mess? She thought so. There was so much stuff that if you lost something, you probably would never be able to find it. Ever again.

Road really hated her life sometimes.

* * *

The twins stared incomprehensibly at the pink nail polish bottles that Lulubell had given them. "You two have to do whatever I say today since you got in trouble with the Earl, so you have to do my nails first."

Devit frowned. "So, basically we're your slaves?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Jasdero grimaced. "Um. I don't know how to paint nails."

"That just means you're going to learn," Lulubell deadpanned. "Mimi isn't around right now, so I can't get her to do it."

The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

"Don't blame us-"

"If it comes out horrible."

"Just thought we should warn you," they chorused together.

* * *

Tyki sighed as he slumped back on the floor. "There, your feet are all lotioned up. Now what?"

"It's time to massage my back!" the Earl announced cheerfully.

Tyki paled considerably. "You're kidding me."

"No, Tyki-pon. I'm not kidding at all."

"I was afraid of that."

* * *

It had taken almost three hours, but it was finally done.

Road leaned down, hands on her knees to keep her standing as she panted. "At least it's over," she murmured, sighing in relief. She stood straight, stretching out her her arms. She then proceeded to stiffen with complete and utter horror.

The room was back to its original state, only _worse. _How was that even _possible? _

Also, was that _moldy cheese? _

Aw, heck.

* * *

The twins were forced to do several horrifying tasks for Lulubell in those few hours. From manicures, to trying on her clothes, to making her lunch. It was a never-ending circle of commands, and it was horrible.

"What do we have to do now?" Jasdero moaned.

"It's not like you'd ever run out of ideas for torturing us, after all," Devit grumbled.

Lulubell smirked. "Well," she paused. "I've decided to do something for you since you've done so much for me today."

They glared suspiciously at her. "What is it?" they said in harmony.

"I'll be giving you both make-overs! Wonderful, isn't it? The Earl actually suggested it to me earlier."

The Earl could be a cruel, cruel man.

* * *

Allen was cackling madly on the floor.

Earlier, the Earl had given him a golem so he could watch the Noahs perform their punishments. In each room a secret golem was hidden so that he could clearly see what was going on. If one of the Noahs moved to a different angle, the golems would readjust themselves for a better position.

Speaking of punishments, all of you who thought the Earl had come up with them were completely wrong. Allen had (obviously) been the mastermind behind them all.

It had gone a little like this:

_"Allen-kun, could you help me with something?"_

_"Hmm?" Allen looked up from his doodling. "What do you need help with?"_

_"Remember when I said that some of my family blew up the hall?"_

_"The dumb ones?"_

_"Yes, the dumb ones."_

_"What about them?"_

_"Could you possibly help me think of ways to punish them for that incident?"_

_Allen suddenly had a devious look in his eyes that certainly should not have been in such an innocent-looking boy. "Sure thing, Earl."_

And that was what had happened. Allen just lost all self control as he watched Lulubell smear bright pink lipstick on Devit. One would have been worried at the devious smirk on the young boy's face, should they have seen him at that moment. But there wasn't anyone to speculate him, so the smirk only grew.

At least this had helped him incredibly to recover from his boredom.

* * *

**I feel so bad. *sweatdrop* This is basically a filler, but I know you guys were wanting to see what their punishments were going to be, so I posted this. Those of you who were expecting a long, plot-continuing chapter, I'm very sorry!**

**The reason I've updated almost late was because I was out all day and some people were over until ten. So I apologize to all of you! We'll get further into the plot in the next chapter, I promise!**

**I've realized that I always update late at night. I don't really know why, but at night I can think better. It's weird. **

**Anyway, I guess I'll see all of you tomorrow! Bye!~**


	6. Laying Down The Rules

**We're on our way to forty! *fistpump* We can do it, guys!**

**GUYS GUYS GUYS THE NEXT CHAPTER HAS COME OUT! I just checked today and I was like, "Wait-215? YESYESYESIWIN!" And then I finished and I was sobbing so hard that it wasn't even funny. I went, "DAM U HOSHINO, DAM U! I NEED NEXT CHAPTER!" So all of you who haven't read it-go now. Or you're not allowed to read this chapter.**

**Gomen, gomen, I dun feel like answering your comments today. All of you have left supporting reviews, and I just had the need to write. **

**You guys you said that the last chapter was funny, I was amazed. Because really, I didn't think it was all that funny. (I'm lame like that XP) Does that mean I'm unintentionally funny all the time? T.T This just goes to show that I have no faith in my humor whatsoever.**

**Also, I'm going to start dedicating my chapters to people. This one goes to my third & fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Eshelman, who started me on the road of writing. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't be here right now. She said that I had the best poetry book in the class, even though it wasn't due in her class. (That was Mrs. Kelpin's class. She was always grumpy because she was pregnant.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, because if I did, I'd probably be signing autographs by now.**

* * *

Sometimes, Road or Tyki would try to get in that door. The Jasdevi twins had given up months ago. And the newest addition to their family, Skinn, couldn't care less about it. Lulubell hadn't given it a second thought after the Earl had mentioned it the first time.

The Earl continued to visit Allen, and the boy never failed in making the Earl's day. Allen had grown as the years passed, each day making him look more handsome. Allen was also allowed one day a month to go out into the city, once he had been able to control the Ark fully.

Allen was now a master at poker. On his free days of the month, he would usually spend his time gambling. It was one of the only things that he enjoyed completely. He then would bring his winnings to a candy shop in town and buy as much as possible so he could stash it in his room. After all, he would need a month's worth.

Everything was normal, and nothing really special happened. However, as they say, it was only the calm before the storm.

The trouble started when he was fifteen.

* * *

Allen smirked as he laid down his cards. "Call!" he declared. "Royal Flush."

The other players groaned, cursing as they threw down their cards. Most of them abandoned the game, leaving the hooded figure to smugly pocket his winnings.

A man came and pulled up a chair at the table, followed by two others, and a young boy who seemed to be with the group.

"Mind if we have a hand, Shounen?" The first man smirked.

Allen lifted his eyes to connect with ones that were hidden by a pair of weird lenses. Something clicked in his mind as the Earl's pictures popped in. _This is Tyki, _he realized. _He's in his White form. _

Instead of declining and going over to the candy shop like he should have done, Allen let a polite grin grace his features. He must have seemed very mysterious to them, seeing as the hood covered his hair and let a shadow drop over eyes.

"Sure," he replied easily, shuffling the cards.

* * *

"Four of a kind. Looks like I win again."

Cards flew up in the air. "DARN IT!"

Allen grinned, glancing at his watch. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but I do believe that it is time for me to depart. Things to do, you see."

Tyki laughed. "That was probably the most fun I've had in years, Shounen. Perhaps we'll meet again."

"Perhaps we will," he said lightly, trying to hide his amusement. It was just so ironic.

He stood up from the table, sending one last grin to the group before heading out of the casino with a pocket full of money.

* * *

Tyki looked thoughtfully after the boy exiting out the door. Why did he seem so familiar? He exhaled a puff of smoke.

He turned toward his companions, who were laughing at how experienced the card shark boy was. "I won't be coming back for a week this time," he said carefully.

The laughter stopped as they blinked. Clank rolled his eyes. "Another one of your secret jobs?" he teased.

Tyki grinned. "I guess you could say that."

* * *

While it was true that he had a job to do, Tyki had left early because he had been curious about the boy. Now, where would a kid go to hang out?

The answer immediately popped into his head. The candy shop. It was pretty obvious, if one thought about it.

He grinned as he saw the hooded boy come out of the shop with a bag bigger than him. Tyki blinked. What would he need with all of that candy? He was too skinny to be able to eat all of it. Heck, he didn't think anyone would be able to eat that much. Right?

There was something that troubled Tyki, too. When he had been close to him, there had been a stirring inside him. Was it...hatred? That was ridiculous, seeing as he had only just met him that night. Besides, other than that little feeling, he had quite meant it when he had said that it was the most fun he had had in a long, long time.

His curiosity spiked when he saw the boy look around, and then slip into an alley. _What on earth is he doing...?_

Frowning, Tyki stepped quietly after him, pausing when he heard him sigh. "Ah~wearing these gloves is a pain," he murmured, slipping off the right one.

Well then, why would you wear them? Tyki wanted to say in frustration. Nothing seemed to be wrong with his hand as far as he could see and-Holy Lord from above, what was _that? _

Tyki's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the boy's left arm, which was scaly and red. To top it off, a green glowing cross was embedded on the back of his hand.

Something flared painfully inside of Tyki-such hatred that he couldn't contain it. This boy was an accomodater. An exorcist.

Usually when he had to face off an exorcist, it had come expected and he would be able to control himself. But when the Innocence became so close and had come out of no where, it caused the Noah inside him to react. It had caught him unexpected, therefore giving him no time to prepare himself for the mental shock.

His skin flashed grey, glasses clacking to the ground. His golden eyes watched as the exorcist spun around in surprise. "Shounen," he said, smiling. "You didn't tell me you were an exorcist." He now wore gloves much like the ones that boy had put in his pocket.

He grinned maliciously as he saw the boy back up slowly. "Why don't we play another game, Shounen?"

* * *

Allen had no idea what to do. His instincts reacted, activating his Innocence. He wouldn't have time to explain who he was or open the Ark, because the Noah of Pleasure was stalking towards him with a crazed grin that could counter the Earl's. Actually, he took that back. No one could counter the Earl and his grins.

His back hit the cold brick wall. Cornered. He really hoped he would get out of this alive.

Lifting up his arm, which was now a gigantic claw, he gritted his teeth and apologized in his mind to the Earl.

* * *

It was like a dance, Tyki noted with amusement. They would twirl and spin, clashing into each other. When Tyki's hand snatched the his left hand, he felt pleased when the boy hissed out in pain. His grip tightened on the arm, still grinning. "I think I'll break your Innocence, Shounen," he said casually. "It's a shame, really. I did wish to play a game of poker with you once more."

The boy winced as the grip started to crack the arm. "Isn't life like poker, though?" he grinned, planting his foot in the Noah's stomach and pushing away with as much force as possible. He succeeded, making him fly in to the air.

Tyki laughed, although it came back a bit strained. Who knew the kid could kick so hard? "You're smart if you think that way, Shounen."

Surprisingly, a wicked grin made way onto the boy's features. "I guess I'll just have to cheat to win this one, huh?" Tyki blinked in astonishment as the crumbling arm shined brightly, black replacing red as it turned from the fingertips up. White light erupted from him then, and as Tyki blinked away the dizziness, he saw with amazement that tattoos now decorated around his left arm and chest.

Even the exorcist seemed mildly surprised. Grinning, the boy wiped a trail of blood from his mouth. "Well, that was unexpected," he said, testing out his arm. He pulled his arm out-expect it was now a sword.

That sword...looked very familiar.

It was the very sword that the Millennium Earl wielded, only backwards in color.

* * *

The boy was obviously tired, and he had lost so much blood. How could he continue to fight? No explanation came to mind as Tyki gritted his teeth, surprised at how long the boy had managed to keep it up. It was almost midnight, so they had been fighting for roughly two hours.

The boy was now hunched over, breathing heavily. "Had enough, Shounen?" Tyki was actually pretty tired himself, but it wasn't as if he was going to let it show.

Big Ben struck twelve, sounding eerie in the dark night.

And, somehow, the Earl appeared just as the boy collapsed from exhaustion and his injuries.

"Tyki-pon..." The Earl didn't sound too pleased. In fact, he sounded outraged, although that..._smile _was making it worse than it actually was.

Tyki didn't know what he had done wrong. But apparently it was pretty bad. He leaned away. "...Yes?"

"This is Allen-kun."

The Noah of Pleasure blinked very slowly. "...And?"

"He's been living in that room behind the white door. Remember?"

Horror washed over Tyki's features as he finally understood what the Earl was so mad about. "I'm so dead," he moaned.

"I guess that's one way you could put it," the Earl hummed, slinging Allen over his shoulder and giving Tyki a sense of déjà vu.

* * *

When Road had walked down the hall, heading toward her room, she had frozen in shock.

The white door was wide open. She bolted straight in there, dropping her stuffed dolls in the process. "Earl? What's going on?"

The Earl looked up from where he had been hovering over the figure of a boy. "This is Allen Walker," he said, grinning. Road noticed that Allen was covered in heavy wounds. "Because of Tyki-pon's incompetence, he got quite injured. He's the one who has been living in this room for the past five years."

"I said I was sorry!" Road turned, blinking as she saw Tyki sitting in a chair, facing the corner of the room.

'Tyki? What are you doing?"

Tyki muttered something under his breath that she couldn't catch.

"Say again?"

He coughed. "I'm in time out."

The Earl smirked, bandaging Allen's right arm, which had a large cut on it.

Road stared at him, then cackled madly, falling on the floor. "Time out! Wait till I tell the twins!" She had gotten up and was headed toward the door.

"If you tell them one word, I'll kill you." Tyki started to turn around, but the Earl sent him that creepy grin again. "Tyki-pon, you can't leave the corner, remember?"

Tyki gaped. "I hate you people so much, it's not even funny."

* * *

~Two hours previously, when Allen became General-level~

Alarms echoed in the room where Hevlaska occupied. Footsteps hurried across the platform, signalling the arrival of the Head Chief, Komui Lee.

"What's going on, Hevlaska?" he said calmly, pushing his glasses into place.

"I sense...a new potential General."

"Where?" Masking his surprise, he wondered how an exorcist could become a General on their own.

"London, England..."

"We'll need to get the exorcists and finders to search every part of London," Komui ordered immediately.

"We need to find this new General, even if it takes years."

* * *

**I didn't like this chapter that much...*sweatdrop*I feel as if it wasn't as good for some reason...**

**But! Finally, they meet Allen! Well, he's unconscious, but still. **

**Tyki actually met Allen in a completely different way than I had anticipated. -_-' Oh well.**

**I guess I'll see you guys later, then. Sayonara! **


	7. The Story Begins

**Hey guys! I have spent the day with my friend Grace, so if by the time I finish writing, it will probably be past my update time. So you may kill me if you wish. (T.T Grace says that she already killed me for you)**

**Anyway.**

**thatsadistinthealley: XD I'm glad you liked it! I went back through the chapters to reread them, so I'll try to answer your questions. I've always had a better grip in the story on what's going on. 1: It's important because Allen trusts Link, especially after saving his life. If the 14th took over Allen, it wouldn't matter anyways, because the 14th's decision will be for his own survival. 2: I don't understand completely, but I do know that he was going to add something else. Unfortunately, Lvellie, came in and interrupted them. So we'll probably find out what he was referring to later. 3: Maybe you got a different translation than I did. I use , so I'll try to explain. Since Kanda's now joined up with a "Noah," his Innocence is turning him into a Fallen One, or so he expects. Also, he got the cross in his arm when he drank his liquid Innocence, therefore turning it into a Crystal Type. I hope that answered your questions! :D**

**Mukuro234: I didn't mean for Tyki to seem mean, but his Noah instinct made him insane. It wasn't actually his fault. I thought, "Hey, it happened to Skin, so why can't it happen to Tyki?" But yeah. XD Glad you liked it.**

**kitsune630: I TOTALLY AGREE! He looks way adorable with his hair tied up. :D**

**Thanks to all you who are reviewing, following, and favoriting! **

**Dedicated to my BFF who never fails to cheer me up, Daniella.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, because then I'd be a genius and would have probably invented Dr. Pepper too.**

* * *

~Two AM~

The icy wind whipped around the exorcists. Lenalee shivered.

Lavi kicked frustratingly at a rock. "We'll never find him!"

Kanda remained silent, eyes flickering in annoyance.

"Or her," Lenalee added thoughtfully. "We can't let this get us down, guys!"

Before Lavi could reply, a buzzing came from Kanda's golem, an image popping up.

"We've found something, Exorcist-samas." It was one of the finders, and Lenalee instantly perked up. "I told you!"

Lavi grinned, slinging his arm around Kanda's neck. "Isn't that great, Yuu?"

The swordsman twitched, exhaling slowly. "Don't call me that."

"What did you find?" Lenalee interrupted the two before a full out fight began. It wouldn't be the first time.

"It seems that there was a battle across from the candy and toy shop off of Main Street."

The words immediately dampened the mood of the group. "Don't tell me the Noahs got to him...?" Lavi trailed off grimly.

Kanda scowled at the mention of the Noahs, the thought of the fight with the petite, blue-haired Noah of Dreams in Germany entering his mind.

Lenalee covered her mouth. "Across from the candy and toy shop?" she said softly. The two others looked over at her. "What if the new General is a kid?"

Grim silence filled the air. Then the forgotten finder spoke up. "There wasn't a body though. Maybe he survived."

They all blinked in surprise. "That's right! Don't they usually leave the bodies behind? He could have gotten away!" Lavi grinned.

"Or she," Lenalee hummed, more cheerful now.

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Che." And they set off to search through the city.

* * *

~Five days later~

Allen still hadn't woken up.

Road was worried for the Earl, and the new boy. She had finally managed to urge him to take a break from sitting beside Allen's bedside, assuring him that she would stay by his side the entire time. Apparently he had become very close with the white-haired teen.

The Earl had barely even left Allen's side, and Tyki had gotten off pretty bad for being the one who had injured him. As far as Road could tell, he was still sitting in the corner that the Earl had newly assigned to him, in the living room.

As Road leaned over Allen, her heart jumped when her eyes examined his face. Even with half-healed cuts standing out on his pale skin, he was still one of the most beautiful beings she had ever seen.

His snow white hair was soft to the touch, she realized as she toyed with a lock of it. The scar that went down his face made him even more cute. Her finger traced down it, smiling involuntarily. He was just so adorable.

He shifted, making Road freeze. After five whole days, was he finally going to wake up? After waiting to see what was behind that stupid door for five years, she was more than eager to meet the boy.

His eyelids squeezed as he yawned, making Road grin.

And then the most marvelous gray eyes she had ever seen opened, blinking as he registered the girl hovering above him.

"You're Allen, right? I'm Road! Nice to meet you."

* * *

Tyki scowled at the wall. This was so unfair. And now he was stuck in this uncomfortable chair until the boy woke up. He sighed as he reached out to grab the sandwich that was perched on a plate next to him.

And just as he was about to take the first bite, a blur of blue jumped on him, making the sandwich fall to the ground. He sighed. "What is it, Road?"

"Tyki~Allen's awake!" she sang. "He's awake~he's awake~"

Tyki grinned. "It's about time. I feel all sore for having to sleep in that thing called a chair." He stood up quickly, stretching. "Are we going or not?"

Road grinned at her uncle, dancing around him in circles. "The Earl's already there. He said that you had to come apologize to Allen."

Tyki rolled his eyes. "How is he?" he asked.

"Oh, Allen's fine! And he's the cutest thing in the world."

Tyki raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"I bet even you'll be gay for him when you see him, Tyki."

"_What? _I've already met the kid, he isn't that cute." A total lie, seeing as that hood was up most of the time. But even when there was blood all over him, he had to admit that the boy did look pretty handsome.

Road smirked. "You're blushing, Tyki."

* * *

Allen looked up at the people entering with big gray eyes. Tyki turned red immediately.

"Uh-Sorry," he muttered, avoiding eye contact with him. "For injuring you." Road cackled. "Aw~Tyki, you look so lost."

"Shut up, Road."

The Earl grinned, clapping his hands together. "Well, I must get going! I'm afraid I'll be away for dinner, so Tyki and Road will have to introduce to the others at dinner tonight!"

Allen grimaced, squirming around. "Okay, Millennie. Have fun."

His grin widened, and he waved to Tyki and Road (Road waved cheerfully back) before opening a door out of the Ark and disappearing.

They all looked at each other before Road tackled Allen, pushing him back on the bed. And she promptly kissed him right on the lips.

Tyki stood there, gaping, with his mouth hanging right open. Road smirked as she pulled away from a frozen Allen. "What? You wanna have a turn, too, Tyki?"

"I'm going to murder you now," he deadpanned. Road giggled, grabbing Allen's hand and pulling him up. "No time, we need to get Allen ready for dinner! I call helping him dress!"

And she pushed a flaming red Allen into the bathroom, leaving a flabbergasted Tyki to stand awkwardly in the doorway.

* * *

All in all, Allen had thought that meeting the rest of the wasn't so bad. Skin had just grunted, so that hadn't been very eventful. Allen had rather liked Lulubell; she was very polite, if not swift. However, when Allen was introduced to the Jasdevi twins...there was a lot of talking. They just kept going and going and _going. _What really confused him was that one of them looked like a girl and the other apparently went commando. So he had decided to just ignore that part of the night and enjoy the fact that everyone had to reasonably like him.

He was determined to keep that up as long as possible, because Tyki had warned him of what Sheryl would do when he found out that Road had kissed him.

After dinner, Allen had went up to Road and asked if she would go to the candy store with him tomorrow. His bag of candy had been lost in the fight with Tyki, unfortunately, so just _had _to go and get some more. When Road had insisted that she would pay for it, he was, at the very least, relieved. It cost a whole lot of money to satisfy himself.

He crashed down on the white fluffy bed, completely out of it. It had been quite an eventful day, to say in the least. He wondered what lay in store tomorrow.

After all, the story had just begun.

* * *

Komui sighed heavily as the exorcists came back with the same report. No trace of the new General.

After searching every crook in London, it was to be expected that they would feel down. But after five days of nothing, nada, nilch, people were beginning to lose hope of finding the new exorcist.

He frowned as he readjusted his glasses, scanning over the reports. They would need to search even harder for the possible akuma-fighter. There was so much risk on the line just to spend their resources to search for that one person, everyone was praying that the outcome would be in their favor.

He paused as he reread something Lavi had put in his report about the fight being across from the candy and toy shops. He would get them to investigate those places the next day.

Komui just really hoped that their searches weren't in vain.

Because if they were, wouldn't that mean that they would lose this game they played?

* * *

**The Black Order are just so...serious. I can't even find ways to get them to joke.**

**Originally, this chapter was supposed to be called, "To Hug A Panda" because I was bored and wanted to put something random down. Eventually I decided against it, and it is now as it is. :D**

**I'm very sorry for the late update! *sweatdrop* I feel really bad...But anyway, please tell me what you think! I tried to do the protagonists roles as best as I could...I think I did rather well, considering past efforts. .**

**It's about two thirty in the morning, and I've only eaten about a fourth of a cup of mac & cheese and a pathetic amount of peach ice cream. Heck, I don't even LIKE peach ice cream. So now I think I'll go make some Oriental Ramon Noodle Soup or something. I just hope I don't wake up my mom, who is currently crashed out on the couch. T.T**

**I have been staying up really late these past few nights for you guys...so I expect lots and lots of reviews from you guys. XD I neeeeed them to survive. Plus, I've almost hit my goal of fifty, so we need to get there before I post up the next chapter! D: C'mon guys, we need to do it! Please? I'll (try) to make my update longer (maybe) next time. **

**Well. This is goodnight, and good morning, because it's TWO IN THE FREAKING MORNING. You're welcome. I do hope you all are satisfied with this chapter...*sweatdrop* They finally got to meet each other consciously, so that's a plus, right? Right? *crickets***

***remembers something* HOLY CRAP, I NEED TO EDIT IT NOW! D: DANG IT! I feel as if I have such bad luck sometimes. T.T**

***halfway through editing* You know what? I give up. You guys'll survive with a few grammar mistakes. **

**So...review!**


	8. The Boy Of White

**YES YES YEEEEES! I love you guys so much :'D We made it to over fifty reviews! Woohoo!**

**Thanks to all your kind comments! I'm glad all of you seemed to enjoy the last chapter! **

**I...have nothing to really say...**

**Dedicated to my other best friend, Hannah, for just being a butt. :D**

**Disclaimer: If you haven't gotten it through your head that I DO NOT own D. Gray Man, you need to learn how to read.**

* * *

Lavi yawned, stalking into the candy shop, Lenalee and Kanda following him.

Kanda sighed, rubbing his forehead. "This is such a waste of time."

The other two just ignored him, going right up to the woman up at the desk. "Excuse me, Miss, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

The woman looked up, blinking in surprise at the three strange people in front of her. "Oh! Of course." She bookmarked the part she was reading in her book, setting it aside as she smiled at them.

Lenalee smiled back. "We were wondering if there were any strange kids in here six or seven days ago...?" she trailed off, looking at the woman expectantly.

Said woman pursed her lips, thoughtful. "Hmm...Strange? Oh!" she snapped her fingers, smiling. "You'd looking for Allen."

They all blinked. "Allen?" Lavi asked.

"Oh, yes, he's been coming here for years! Odd kid, he is. He comes once every month, and buys enough candy to feed an army!" She laughed.

Kanda scowled. "What's so odd about him?"

"Oh, he has the strangest looks you could find! Apparently his hair turned white from trauma and," her voice lowered, making them have to lean closer. "he has a scar down his face. Poor boy, doesn't like to talk about it." Her voice turned back to it's normal pitch. "But everyone here absolutely adores him. Never met a nicer kid."

Lavi let this process in his head for a few moments, making sure that he would remember every detail. "How old is he?" he queried.

"Oh, fifteen," she said airily, waving a hand.

"Do you know where he lives?" Lenalee asked.

"That's the mysterious part about him. He only appears once a month, but if you search through the city, he won't be anywhere. He just disappears from the face of the earth."

* * *

Allen rubbed the back of his head. Maybe bringing Road along wasn't the best idea in the world.

Road was clinging to his arm, dragging him forward gleefully. He still wasn't exactly sure what he thought of her, although it was leaning in the crazy area. "Ooh! There's ice cream! But it's such a long line...I'll get some for us! You go on ahead and get the candy, I'll come and meet you in the shop!"

And she ran off ahead, leaving Allen to sort out her rapid speech.

* * *

The bell on the door rung, signalling the arrival of a new customer, and interrupting the conversation between the exorcists and the woman at the desk. The woman looked over, and then she blinked in surprise. "Allen?"

The exorcists all whipped around in surprise. The boy that had just walked in-Allen, apparently-was focusing on the woman. "Ah, Amelia! How are you?"

"Fine," she replied, looking confused. "You were here just a few days ago and-Allen, are those bruises?" She rushed over, just now noticing the purplish marks on his cheeks and neck. On closer inspection, she saw cuts here and there.

He laughed nervously. "I fell down," he said. "And the candy down into a sewer."

Lavi snorted. "A sewer?" he said skeptically, catching the younger boy's attention. "Yes," he said, pasting a smile on his face.

He and Lenalee shared a knowing look. These were probably the visible injuries from the fight with the Noah, or perhaps akuma. It was surprising that he had survived a fight with either, if he hadn't been trained.

Or they could be completely wrong, and the kid wasn't an accomodater.

Lavi was leaning toward the first one.

"So," Allen said, smiling as he turned back to Amelia. "I'll need the usual."

Amelia rolled her eyes, laughing. "This'll take a while, so you might as well talk to these people over here." She motioned to the three, smiling. "We were actually just talking about you."

The boy raised his eyebrows, turning to examine them closer. Lavi watched as his eyes caught the symbol on the uniform, recognition flickering momentarily in his eyes. But when Lavi looked closer, he had a curious, blank expression on. Maybe he had just imagined it?

"Oh really?" He smiled at them, and Lenalee smiled back, while Kanda just glared at him. Lavi grinned, holding out a hand. "I'm Lavi, that's Lenalee, and the grumpy-pants over here is Kanda."

Allen shook his hand with his gloved one. "Pleasure. I'm Allen Walker."

Lavi's eyes trailed down his face, blinking at the snow white hair that complemented his fair features. He gazed at the red scar that ran up it, although he couldn't see the top from the bangs that covered his forehead.

Lenalee grinned. "It's nice to meet you, then. We wanted to talk to you about something that happened a few days ago."

"Hmm?" He looked interestingly at her. "What would that be?"

Kanda scowled at him. "Listen Beansprout, we need to know what happened when you got those bruises."

Allen spluttered, glaring at him, while Lavi muttered, "Way to be discreet, Yuu."

"Who're you calling Beansprout, BaKanda?" he demanded.

Shocked silence filled the air.

"You did not just say that," Kanda said slowly. Allen smirked. "Seems like I did."

Lavi caught the fist that was flying toward Allen. "Woah, kid, are you suicidal or something?" he laughed, although it was strained since he was holding back Kanda.

"No, I just seem to have the worst luck," he sighed.

The bell rung again. "Oh, Allen?" a familiar voice said.

* * *

Road Kamelot was standing in the shop, two chocolate ice creams in her hands, staring at the exorcists. "Oh. It's you. Ready to go, Allen?" she said, turning to said white-haired boy.

He readjusted his gloves. "One minute, Road, Amelia should be here soon."

Kanda stared at him, too shocked for words. Lavi stood there with his jaw wide open, and Lenalee was frozen with horror.

Lavi was the first to be able to speak again. "Um...Allen? Do you know Road?"

Allen stared at him like he was crazy. "Obviously. Why?"

"_Um..._.Do you know what she is?"

He blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

They all seemed to take a breath of relief when he uttered those words. He didn't seem like he knew what Road was, or that she was their enemy.

Amelia came back in the room, carrying the _biggest freaking bag in the world. _"What the crap?" Kanda demanded.

"Um...Is this really your usual, Allen?" Lavi said weakly. Lenalee just shook her head, lost for words.

Road licked her ice cream. "Ooh, goodie. We can leave now! Allen, will you help me with my homework?"

Allen shrugged. "Just warning you, I've never gone to school."

"You can write, right?"

"Actually," Lavi interrupted. "We need to ask Allen some questions."

Road smiled sweetly. "Oh really? Well, we don't have time right now. Right, Allen?"

He choked when Road elbowed him. She really didn't have to do it so hard. "Right," he managed to wheeze out.

"Right!" she said cheerfully.

"But-" Lenalee started, but she was only talking to the door.

"How did she run away so fast?" Lavi wondered, amazed.

"Is that _really _what you're thinking about right now?" Kanda deadpanned.

"Yes," the red-haired teenager admitted. "My mind is still processing what happened."

* * *

Road was cackling as she opened the Ark. "Did you see their faces? Priceless!"

"Millennie won't be pleased," Allen sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wanted another ice cream cone.

The girl giggled, offering hers to him. "Want it?"

"No dip, Sherlock."

* * *

"Slow down, Lavi!" Komui couldn't understand a word that the exorcist was blabbering about, but it did sound pretty eventful.

The one on the other line sighed heavily. _"We think we found him."_

"What?" Komui blurted. "What happened?"

_"Well...We found him in the candy shop." _

"Ha!" Komui interrupted, grinning. "I told you so."

_"Anyway," _Lavi deadpanned. _"Halfway through, guess who comes in? Road-freaking-Kamelot."_

"What happened then?" Komui asked, intrigued.

_"Apparently the kid knew her, but he doesn't seem to actually know that she's a Noah." _

He pursed his lips. "Well, this is a problem."

_"I had no idea," _the voice from the other line said sarcastically.

* * *

Allen yawned. "And that's what happened," he concluded to the Earl, who had propped his elbows up on the desk, looking quite interested in his tale.

"Hmm." The Earl grinned his infamous creepy grin. "We'll have to do something about this."

"What'll we do, then?" Allen asked, curious as to know what the Earl would come up with.

The Earl intertwined his fingers together. "Allen-kun, how good are you at acting?"

Allen shrugged. "I lived on the streets for the first ten years of my life. What do you think?"

The Earl's grin widened to an incredible size. "I think that this is going to be very interesting."

* * *

Road wouldn't let go of Allen. "You said you would help me with my homework," she whined.

Allen sighed, giving up. "Let me see it," he said, holding out his hand expectantly.

The spiky-haired girl grinned in victory, pulling out a wrinkled sheet of paper. Allen smoothed it out, frowning at it as he read it over. "Geography?" he questioned after a few moments, having recognizing the subject of the homework.

"Yup," Road grinned. "Do you know the answers?"

Allen smirked. "More or less, I think I do. Got a pencil I could borrow?"

Road jumped in the air, whooping. "Yes! I win!" She searched her pockets, bringing out a pencil to give to Allen.

She eagerly waited as Allen started to scribble things in the blanks.

"Done," he said after several minutes of writing.

"Oh my god, you are the best in the world Allen, like, really!"

The Noah grinned as Allen coolly handed over her assignment.

Allen started off to his room, so as to hide the smirk that was growing more pronounced on his face.

Meanwhile, Road was scanning over the answers Allen had put down. Her gleeful face turned to one of horror as she got farther down. "Hey!" she called after him indignantly. "You just put down the number ten for all of them!"

"Got to be ten, right?" Allen grinned, shutting his door.

"Ugh...This sucks," Road moaned, glaring at the mocking piece of paper in her hands.

* * *

**Grace is over for a sleepover, so naturally she decided to bug me while I wrote. **

**I didn't like this chapter either, but I'm hoping you'll be more accepting than I am. I had meant for this to be longer...but Grace was annoying me too much and I was already an hour off from my goal time. **

**I had also decided to add that little part with Road and her homework just for a little humor, too.**

**I CAN'T DO KANDA D: It's just so hard to do him for some reason. I think I did pretty well on Komui and Lavi, and Lenalee was okay, but Kanda barely ever talked. I hope you guys liked this though.**

**I don't think that I did this as well as the other chapters, and once again I had meant for this to go out a different way...and I failed. So yeah. **

**It would make my day if you take a few minutes to review! Thanks! :D**


	9. Goodbye, Hello

**I'm glad all of you seemed to like the last chapter than I seemed to! *sweatdrop* This is the day I'm moving to my dad's house, so I might be updating slower, since my computer automatically logs off at eleven. Sorry for that. But anyway.**

**jozefien: I have no idea. Most people are rooting for RoadxAllen, so I guess I'll do that with a touch of Poker Pair here and there.**

**All of you have put such kind comments, I never expected to get so far in only a week! Arigato! **

**Dedicated to my dad for encouraging me when I try to give up on something. :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, but Hoshino does. *points***

* * *

Road clung to Allen's waist, complaining the whole way he was walking.

"But _why?" _she said, pouting. "How come you gotta go to town again?"

"Because the Earl asked me to," he deadpanned. "It would be easier for me if you could, you know, get off me."

Road's pout became more pronounced, but she finally let go of him. "You're not coming back, are you?"

Allen raised his eyebrows, grinning. "You spied?"

"Who do you think I am?" she snorted.

He laughed, holding out his arms. Road rolled her eyes, but proceeded in tackling him to the ground. "Oof!" Allen moaned. "You were supposed to be prepared," she giggled.

"I don't think anyone can be prepared when it comes to you."

Road wrapped around her arms around his neck, smirking as she planted her lips on his. She immediately felt him heat up, and she pulled back breathlessly.

"W-well," Allen said, still red. "I better go then."

Road grinned. "Bring me back some more kisses, ne, Allen?"

He scowled, making him look irresistible. "I'll get a message to you later, okay? See you."

There was a flash of white light as he entered the Ark, and Road was left on her own. If you looked close enough, you could see the faint blush gracing her features.

* * *

Lenalee was peering around the corner of the candy shop, looking for a certain white-haired boy. What she did not expect, however, was to be lightly tapped on the shoulder. She whirled around, gaping at Allen, who now stood in front of her.

"Y-you..." she stuttered, completely flustered.

"You're Lenalee, right?" he gave her a dazzling smile, making Lenalee blush lightly.

"Yes," she said, and was about to say something else before a shout interrupted her. "Hey! Lenalee found him!" And a red-headed one-eyed rabbit-boy came bouncing over with a scowling samurai in tow.

"And you're Lavi, and BaKanda, right?" he smiled again, only this time it looked a bit strained when his eyes flickered to Kanda.

Kanda twitched, exhaling slowly. Lavi laughed nervously. "Yep, that's us, moving on," he said quickly.

"Why are you here?" Lenalee asked, frowning slightly. "We thought you only came once a month."

He smiled. "If you really thought that, you wouldn't be hanging around looking for me, would you?"

The kid had a point.

"Now," he said, locking his fingers together. "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Actually," Lavi started hesitantly. He wasn't really sure how Allen would take the news of him having to leave with them. "We think that you're an accomodater."

* * *

They were now inside a train compartment, after Lavi had reassured Allen that he would explain on the way there.

"So," Allen paused. "You think I hit this 'Critical Point?'"

"Yes," Lenalee said without a beat. "But we're not entirely sure. Do you have something that can do things that they normally wouldn't do?" He could have had a sword that he had used and activated without knowing, or maybe a gun, which would explain it.

Allen hesitated for a second, before slowly saying, "Well...My arm..."

"You're arm?" Lavi urged.

The whitenette frowned, then proceeding to pull off his glove. They all stood there for a second, staring at the black arm in shock. And then the boy did something extraordinary; his arm turned into a gigantic sword as he pulled it out slowly.

"Something like that?" he asked weakly, standing there awkwardly with a sword twice as wide as him.

* * *

"I have another question," Lavi started, after they had asked everything about his Innocence and how it had become General-level. Apparently he had two new forms that it had evolved to; Crown Clown and the whole sword-thing. It had activated when Tyki Mikk, another Noah that had popped into the scene, fought him. This had caused a whole new argument between Kanda and Allen to erupt, of how Kanda could not believe that a "scrawny little beansprout like him" didn't look like he could take on a Noah of that power.

"Hmm?" Allen looked a tad exasperated at the amount of questions that were being thrown to him. "What is it, Lavi?"

"Did you know that the girl you were hanging out with yesterday, Road Kamelot, was a Noah?"

Allen blinked in surprise. "What, really? No, I had actually just met her that day. We bumped into each other that morning when I stopped by a coffee shop to get something to snack on. We kinda started talking, and we just decided to hang out for the rest of the day. We met completely by accident."

He was practically radiating sincerity, so it was hard not to believe his story. "I guess that we have no other problems, then," Lenalee said, smiling. Kanda grunted. "Che."

"Did you get all that, Komui?" Lavi asked, ignoring the surprised Allen as he pulled out the golem that had been recording their entire conversation. _"Every word," _Komui said from the other line.

"You think he's trustworthy?"

_"More or less so." _

"I'm right here!" Allen interrupted indignantly.

Kanda rolled his eyes. "No one gives a crap, Beansprout."

"Well no one gives a crap about _you _either," he muttered, still looking annoyed.

* * *

Allen looked around in amazement, examining the Headquarters of the Black Order. It wasn't as big as the Ark, of course, but it was still pretty big for humans.

"Cool, huh?" Lavi said smugly, noticing Allen gazing at the high ceilings.

"I've seen bigger, but it is pretty cool," he admitted, trying to ignore the whispers and curious looks that were directed at him from all over the place.

"Is that the new General?"

"I heard that he hit Critical Point without any training."

"But he's only a kid!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter how old you are when it comes to Innocence, does it?"

Rumors had spread like wildfire the moment he set foot on the property of the Black Order, and they didn't seem to be quieting down any time soon for that matter. It was surprising to Allen that the people here could be so in to gossip. When he thought of the Black Order, he certainly didn't think of them as this.

A Chinese man suddenly came up to them, smiling warmly.

Lavi took it upon himself to introduce them to each other. "Allen, this is Komui Lee, the Head Chief, and Lenalee's older brother. Komui, this is Allen Walker. Of course, you already know about him from the reports."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Allen said, smiling as he shook Komui's hand.

Komui blinked in surprise. "I knew you were polite from the recording, but I didn't know it was to this extent," he laughed.

When Allen looked questioningly at him, he grinned, holding up a finger. "You see, everyone in this place is either rude or very patient. You seem to be genuinely nice. Of course, you aren't as kind as my beautiful sister, but you get my point."

Lenalee rolled her eyes while Kanda coughed, "Sister complex!" under his breath. Komui apparently seemed to ignore this, instead motioning to Allen to follow him. "Let's go meet Hevlaska, shall we?"

* * *

"Wow," Komui said softly, watching as Allen went to the cafeteria to get some food.

"What is it, Brother?" Lenalee asked, noticing where her older sibling's gaze was directed to.

He shook his head in amazement. "His synchronization rate is at one hundred and thirty-two percent. It's almost higher than General Cross's."

Lenalee blinked. She had known that Allen had synchronized past one hundred percent, but to that extent...It was incredible that a boy so young could have achieved a feat so large-let alone doing it on his own.

"There's something else, too..." Komui trailed off, looking thoughtful.r

"What?"

"Allen has been marked as the 'Destroyer of Time' by Hevlaska."

"What does that mean?" Lenalee asked curiously, eyes flickering to the new exorcist.

"It means that he has a great destiny in the future, to say in the least," Komui said, laughing.

* * *

Kanda didn't know what to say, really. When he had come into the cafeteria, expecting a normal day of his usual soba, he had instead found one of the most repulsive things he had ever seen.

Kanda had been minding his own business, but as he walked through the door entering inside the cafeteria, his eyes immediately zoomed to the mountain of food that was threatening to fall over. And sitting right behind it, rubbing his hands smugly, was the stupid beansprout dork.

And just when he was about to go tell the kid off for getting so much food when obviously couldn't eat it all, the brat started to wolf it all down. And the samurai stood there, gaping, as food magically started to disappear at a disgusting rate.

Two minutes later, when the pile was now halfway gone, Kanda was a delicate shade of green. Like pea soup.

"Go go go!" Lavi laughed, and he was actually encouraging the kid to keep eating. Seriously, who did that?

"You can do it, kid!"

"C'mon, just stuff it all down!"

"Holy cow, how is he doing that? More, more!"

Apparently the entire room did. What idiots.

And now the plate was empty, and then the little brat licked the plate clean. Cheers erupted throughout the room, whistles and howls echoing around.

"Seconds, please!"

Kanda didn't think he would last that long watching the kid that long, so he turned and ran as fast as he could without looking back to his room.

* * *

**Once again, I can't do long chapters. I have no idea why, but at least these aren't those sucky ones that are only, like, five hundred words, right?**

**One review away from seventy, guys! :D I never expected to get this far, and I am now also working on another idea for D. Gray Man. I now realize that I should write the chapters beforehand so I'm never late on a an update. But anyway.**

**I liked this chapter much better than the last one, and I hope you do too! Road has finally showed some real emotion, which I totally went "KYAAA~" about, even if it's weird that I would do that to my own story.**

**My computer is about to log me off, so I'll go post this chapter now. Bye!~**

**Review, please!**


	10. A Wish Upon A Star

**Hey y'all! We're almost to eighty! My goal is to get to one hundred by Tuesday. Let's see if we can pull it! :D**

**lilanimefan247: He said goodbye to Allen in his room, but he had to go create possible akuma. 3**

**Dedicated to my kitties Tiger and Rascal, who hog my pillows at night. T.T**

**Disclaimer: I wished upon a star that I owned D. Gray Man...but it didn't work. **

* * *

Allen peeked around, examining the room for any kind of recording device. After he had assured himself that there was nothing there, he locked the door and closed the curtains. Humming, he squinted at the bright light that erupted around the room as the Ark opened in front of him. He ducked his head in, grinning and walking all the way in when he saw Road lounging on one of the balconies.

"Hey, Road."

She looked up from the magazine she was reading. The magazine dropped from her hands, and she squealed in delight. "Allen!~ You're back!" She jumped off the railing, crashing right into him.

"Ow," he moaned, letting his head fall back on the ground. "Why does this seem to happen every time I see you?" he wondered.

Road rolled here eyes, giving him a peck on the cheek. "How was the Order?"

"Weird," he deadpanned. "They all gossip like old ladies, and I suspect most of them are gay. But other than that, they're pretty nice."

Road snickered, grinning, just as Tyki waltzed right up to them. He leaned forward, smirking at the position they were in. "You two seem to be having fun," he noted.

"Where did you even come from?" Allen demanded.

"Canada," he shrugged, positioning his gloves to fit correctly. "I was bored, so I came over after Road opened me a door."

Allen glared at Road, and she smirked right down at him. "I wanted him to know you were back," she said innocently.

"Uh huh," he replied disbelievingly. "It was just convenient that we happened to be like this when he came, was it?"

"Yes. It was. Completely."

Allen sighed, rolling his eyes as he pushed her off lightly. "Jeez, Road, I didn't know you weighed so much-"

He ducked as an umbrella zoomed over his head. "Ah~Put me down, lero!"

"Oh, Lero," Allen blinked.

"Allen, lero! Help, lero!" The umbrella looked quite distressed as Road spun around with it in circles.

"U-um, Road?" he said weakly.

"Yes, Allen?" Road hummed, still twirling all over the place.

"Could you, you know, stop torturing Lero?" he asked.

"No thanks," Road grinned cheekily.

"Thought so." He face palmed, trying not to laugh at the look of horror that the abused pumpkin-umbrella beheld. "Sorry, Lero, no can do."

"So, Shounen," Tyki said, lighting his cigarette. "How was it, infiltrating the Black Order?"

"Easy. It seems like their minds wouldn't be able to process the fact of an accomodater working together with the Noah," Allen said coolly, although he had taken a small liking towards them. But it was only a small one, so it wouldn't do any harm, right?

Right.

"Hmm," Tyki looked rather thoughtful as he let out a puff of smoke. "When are you leaving to go back?"

"Like, right now," he deadpanned. "I've probably been gone for too long already."

"Aw~But Allen!" Road whined. "That's no fair! You've only been here for, like, five minutes!"

"Ten, actually," the British boy replied, rolling his eyes. "And that doesn't change the fact that I need to leave."

Tyki grinned as Road kissed him on the lips. "Think I could get a kiss, too, Shounen?"

"Heck no."

"It was worth a shot."

* * *

Lavi leaned on Allen's door, irritated. For some reason unknown to him, the kid had locked his door. "Oi! Beansprout! Open up!"

No response. He knocked, narrowing his eye. "Beansprout?" he asked suspiciously.

There seemed to be some kind of crash from the inside of the room, and a blinding white light shone through the crack in the door for a second before diminishing. The red-head heard a groan from the inside.

"Beansprout, you okay?" he asked, now a tad worried. What had been that light?

"Just dandy!" came the hasty reply from the teen. "Absolutely blinding!" He could hear the muffled snicker from Allen, and Lavi wondered when his accent had been so thick. Maybe it came out when he was stalling or something?

"Could you open the door, then?" Lavi rolled his eye.

"Just a second!" Allen's voice sounded as if he were in a different room for a second, and there came a louder thump. The door opened, with a dazed-looking Allen blinking from the sudden light from the hall.

"What were you doing in there?" Lavi asked, amused.

"I was in the bloody bathroom!" Allen said, disgruntled.

"What was with all the falling and crashing, then?" Lavi smirked.

The boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "All the lights were off?"

Lavi stared at him for a long, hard minute. "Why?"

"Um. I feel safer in the dark." Allen was so red with embarrassment, either from the stupidity of the claim, or the weak attempt of a lie, Lavi didn't know. But even if he were lying-and the chances were pretty high for that matter-he had to hand it to him, it was pretty funny.

The older man snorted, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle his laughter, ultimately failing as choked bursts of laughter came from his shaking body.

"What's so funny?" Allen demanded, ears red too.

"Nothing, nothing," Lavi grinned, waving him off.

"Then what did you come here for?" The kid was obviously still annoyed, so Lavi slung his arm around Allen's shoulder. "Aw, don't be like that, Al. I just came to pick you up for the Welcome Party."

He perked up at that. "Will there be food?" he asked suspiciously.

"Jerry made a humongous cake just for you, Beansprout," Lavi rolled his eyes.

"The name's Allen, Baka Lavi!" The white-haired boy immediately corrected.

Lavi laughed, grinning wider. "I think this is the start of a long and beautiful friendship."

* * *

Allen was pretty much drooling over the cake. "Holy crap, brat, can you get any more impatient? I thought you were supposed to be the polite one," Kanda snorted, glaring at Allen as if he was the reason he was there. Actually, he was the reason Kanda was there.

"It's just so big," he moaned, deciding to ignore Kanda's nicknames that included brat, dork, idiot, and more. Kanda just seemed to be getting better and better by the second. _Great. _

Kanda scowled. "I hate cake."

"Well, cake hates you too, prick."

Reever came in the room, holding a golden golem that had a strange-looking tail and a white cross over its face. "Hey, Allen," he greeted, poking the golem without much enthusiasm.

"That golem looks different than the others," Allen commented idly, eyes straying from the cake for about three seconds.

"Oh, him? This is Timcanpy. He's General Cross's, but he's always depressed because Cross left him here a few years ago."

"Huh? Why'd he do that?" Allen asked curiously.

Reever shrugged. "No idea, but I thought I better bring him to meet you." He held up Timcanpy to Allen's face, letting him drop into Allen's hands.

And then the golem did something no one ever thought would happen. He looked up, or whatever golems did, at Allen, and perked up immediately. Stretching his wings, he flew around a couple times around Allen's head, before perching in the white locks.

"Woah," Reever blinked. "It seems he actually likes you."

Allen tried to look at Timcanpy from where he was sitting on his head, but he only managed to see his tail swishing around. He poked him with his pale finger, grabbing the tail and holding him up in the air in front of his face to see better.

The golem didn't try to escape like he would usually do, instead flapping his wings slightly so he wouldn't hang upside-down. "Huh." Allen said smartly.

"I guess he can temporarily be your golem, since you don't have one yet. Until General Cross comes back, of course. _If _he comes back," Komui said, smiling in amusement as Allen stretched Timcanpy's mouth, gaping at the sharpness of his teeth.

"I think I'll call you Tim for short," Allen said thoughtfully. "Do you like cake?" He hovered a piece of his cake in front of Timcanpy, who opened his mouth widely and started devouring it.

"I think we'll get along brilliantly," Allen said, now too digging in on the rest of the large cake.

Kanda hid his eyes. Great. Now the brat had a pet that liked to eat just as much as he did. He considered checking to see what time he went to lunch, just to avoid him.

* * *

Apparently Lavi had thought it would be funny if he spiked the punch, and so did Komui. Reever face palmed, staring at the two drunken men. "Good Lord."

Allen was looking smug, and he downed another cup of the alcoholic punch. "How are you not drunk yet?" Lenalee asked in amazement, staring at Allen. Everyone had thought he would be out first, but he was still on his feet and completely sober.

The boy shrugged, grinning as Lavi and Komui started to sing "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer On the Wall." "I guess I just have a higher tolerance than they do." He swished around the red punch in the plastic cup. "Hmm. I've never actually had this stuff. It's not so bad, really." He took another swig of it.

"So who's going to take them to bed?" Lenalee wondered. Everyone, even Timcanpy, looked straight at Reever.

"Why me?" he demanded. "It's always me who has to clean up everything! Get someone else to do it!"

Kanda snorted. "It's because you're the only one who even gives a crap about what happens to the dorks."

Reever sighed in defeat. "Never again," he moaned as he looked over to see Lavi and Komui spinning around in pink tutus.

He thought he had a pretty suck-ish life sometimes. He really did.

* * *

Allen was on the roof, gazing up at the stars. Timcanpy fluttered around him for a while, before deciding to settle down on Allen's head again.

"Ne, Tim," Allen said, sighing. "Do you sometimes wish things could be simpler?"

As expected, Timcanpy didn't answer, merely shuffling around to get more comfortable.

A star shot across the sky, making a smile appear on the boy's face.

"Make a wish, Tim."

* * *

**You know all those other fics where Allen gets drunk so freaking easily? I totally disagree with them, through and through. I mean, think about it. He traveled with Cross for years, so he must have taken a drink once or twice, right? Besides, Allen had to go through all those Black Districts too, and if he survived that long, I think he must have had a high tolerance for alcohol.**

**I kinda like this chapter, but for some reason, I only write about two thousand words for each update. Roughly. So when I read Any Way You Want It, I'm thinking, "Woah, how did they get so many freaking words in there?" But yeah. Whatever.**

**My updates have been coming earlier than eleven though, so that's a plus. I keep having to rush it because my dad has some parental lock stuff on my computer, so it always logs me off at eleven every night. It sucks, right? I think I'm going to go enjoy the last fifteen minutes of my life on the computer now, so I guess this is goodbye and goodnight.**

**Please review, it would really mean a lot to me. :D**


	11. The First Mission, With Poker

**Lalalalala. It's really hot in my room but I don't feel like getting up to turn the air conditioner on. T.T Oooooh, lookie, almost to 100 reviews! :D**

**Kyoki o Tanoshima: Omigod, I looked that up and watched it...I laughed my butt off. XD This has managed to squirm an idea in my head, so yay for that. And don't worry, you're absolutely right, Allen is cute when he's drunk. Now I need to write a chapter with him drunk...*sweatdrop* It will happen. IT WILLLLLL! XD**

**ruin of degradation: The storage closet. Komui keeps the oddest things there...**

**Tiger723: HOLY CRAP, I'M NOT ALONE IN THE WORLD! Oh, sorry, I've just never met another person who had that. You have my sympathies. XD And yeah, I was thinking up ways all day to somehow get Tim squeezed in there. :D**

**99DenmonChick99: I have no idea, we'll just have to find out. :D Remember, I am completely winging this. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. That's one of the reasons it's so fun. XD**

**Dedicated to my stepmother, Rebecca, who is ten days away from having my brother. :D I feel so sorry for her...She just keeps getting bigger...*sweatdrop* I'm glad I won't be pregnant for another couple of decades. XD**

**Disclaimer: If I owned D. Gray Man, that would rock. But I don't. So it sucks. **

* * *

Allen tossed Timcanpy in the air, catching him in his open palm. Repeat.

This went on for quite some time, because, to put it simply, Allen was bored. Really, really bored.

So he got up, stretching, and stalked out of his room, Timcanpy fluttering around his head as he walked. Yawning, he poked his head around the corner into the Science Department. Lenalee looked up from serving coffee, and she smiled at her friend. "Ah, Allen, I was about to come and get you after I gave everyone their coffee." She laughed. "Komui wants you to get to his office. Something about a mission."

Allen grinned. "First mission, huh?" He slung his coat over his shoulder. "Wish me luck, then."

"Good luck," she said, grinning widely.

Allen knocked on the door of the Head Chief, cracking it open. He blinked in surprise at the sleeping man, and the sheer amount of papers in the room.

"Komui?" he asked cautiously, poking the older man on the shoulder.

"Um...Wake up?" he tried weakly.

He frowned for minute, thinking of things that would probably wake him up. Hadn't Kanda called the man a sister complex? Hmm...If that were true...

He leaned down close to his ear. "Hey, Komui," he started out softly. "I heard that Kanda got Lenalee pregnant."

Komui shot up with inhuman speed, a rifle appearing on his shoulder. "Where is he?" he growled. "I'll kill him for tainting my precious Lenalee!"

He finally looked over at Allen, who was snickering behind his hand. "Um," he said between laughter. "She's not really pregnant. Just trying to get you up."

"Oh." He faltered, throwing the rifle back to disappear in the midst of the papers.

Just then, Lavi entered the room. He whistled, impressed. "Woah, you managed to get him up? Dude, that's the first time a newcomer has managed to do it without someone telling him first."

Komui cleared his throat, interrupting Allen from replying. "_Any_way," he smiled, shuffling some papers around before grabbing some of them. "You two will be going on a mission together. Apparently there's a possible accomodater that you need to look up and confirm. The rest of the details are in this." He waved the papers, making them flap around. "Oh, and Allen," he smiled. "Good luck on your first mission."

"Woah woah," Lavi interrupted, staring at Komui. "You never told _me _good luck the first time I went on a mission!"

"That's because you were flirting with Lenalee every time you saw her," Komui deadpanned. "Now. Get out of my office, Lavi, because you still do that."

Lavi backed up, hands held up in surrender. "I'm out! Coming, Allen?"

Allen grinned. "See you, Komui."

* * *

The mission had gone pretty well, minus the fact that the accomodater-Krory-had almost _killed _them several times, with the help of an akuma named Eliade. Allen had recognized her, but she didn't really seem to notice that he was the boy who had complimented her on her looks a few years back when she had come to bring him breakfast.

But, the akuma was destroyed, and they were safely on the train back with a new accomodater the next day. Everything was going smoothly, and Allen was relaxing as much as he could, because obviously something was going to intrude and make the day more tiring, as always.

So when three hours passed from when Lavi and Allen had sent Krory to go explore the train, he wasn't that surprised when they had to go look for him.

"Who takes _three _hours to look around a train this small?" Lavi said in exasperation.

"Maybe he found something interesting..." Allen trailed off with his suggestion as they opened another door to find Krory in his underwear with cards in his hand. Allen looked up to find three men and a child lounging there, the men looking pretty smug.

Allen blinked as he recognized Tyki, and he caught the grin and slight nod that he gave the white-haired boy.

"Hey," he said, his ever-there cigarette hanging from his mouth. "This place isn't open to kids right now."

Lavi crouched down to Krory. "Krory...What are you doing?" he smiled at the shivering man.

"W-well, these men asked em if I wanted to play a game called poker...I thought it would be fun to learn something new..."

_Oh God, _Allen sighed mentally. _He's been had. _

"You aren't backing out, are you?" The men leaned forward, making Krory lower himself back. "A real man would keep playing to the end. You ain't a pussy, are you?"

Allen held out his coat in front of them, also giving Krory some space in the process. "These buttons are made out of pure silver," he started, smiling pleasantly. "If bet this against all of my friend's belongings, would you let me play?"

If one looked close enough, you would be able to see the middle man blanch slightly. But instead, he chuckled as if amused, blowing out smoke. "Heh. Sure."

* * *

_Staaaaaare. _

Lavi rubbed his eyes once again, not believing a thing he was seeing. It just didn't register in his mind that such an innocent, pure young boy like Allen Walker could be so..._vicious. _

"Call!" Allen laid out his cards so he could show them off to the other players.

"A Royal Flush," the three moaned in harmony, already in their boxers. Piles of their belongings were behind Allen, and the boy smiled innocently.

"Looks like I win again."

"Augh!" They slammed the cards down in disbelief.

_This isn't happening, _his mind told his eyes. _Look again. _

_We're looking, _his eyes insisted to his mind. _It's happening. _

And this had repeated itself to Lavi several times in the past thirty minutes. Finally pulling himself in order, he leaned in closer to Allen.

"Allen, how are you doing that? I thought you were supposed to be an unlucky boy."

"It's not luck," the kid whispered back from behind his cards, eyes staring challengingly at his opponents. "It's because I'm cheating."

_Whaaaat? _"Woah, you serious?" Lavi blinked, staring at Allen. "I didn't think you were that kind of person."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I lived on the streets for practically my entire life. I had to learn how to play cards, to get food and rent out some place to sleep for the night." Not exactly true, but it would have been if the Earl hadn't picked him up all those years ago. "Besides, they cheated Krory first, and they're playing as a team. I consider this to be a fair match." He chuckled evilly.

Lavi leaned away from the evil aura the boy had. _This must be his 'dark' side, _he realized.

"Call! Full House!"

"_Whaaat?" _

Lavi flinched. _So dark..._

* * *

Tyki had asked Allen to talk for a moment privately a few minutes away from his station. Allen had waved Lavi off when he started to make up excuses, instead telling him that he would be there in a second.

"So...It seems you've been doing well these past few days," Tyki noted, grinning at the younger boy as they sat down in the train compartment.

"More or less so," he snorted, motioning down to the injuries he had gotten from yesterday, which were slowly healing.

"By the way, Road sends her regards. She would've come, but it might have just caused a panic with your exorcists friends," Tyki informed him.

Allen rolled his eyes, smacking his forehead. "Tell her that I'm coming to give a report to the Earl tomorrow, so I'll see her then."

"Sure can do, Shounen," he grinned, leaning down. "Everything's been so quiet ever since you left," he sighed dramatically.

Allen scowled. "I had only met all of you, like, a week in there. And I was unconscious for five if those days!"

"True enough," Tyki admitted. "But you still managed to make everything so much brighter!" he laughed.

"Whatever. Is there anything else you need?"

"Yes," the man said very, very seriously. "The Earl asked this himself."

"...What?"

"A kiss." Tyki smirked, leaning forward to press his lips against the boy's. Allen stood there, shocked, as Tyki pulled back. Then Allen regained his senses, wiping his mouth with a scowl. "The Earl _so _did not ask you to give me a kiss!" he accused, annoyed.

"Well, it was the only way you would stay here for another second."

Before the boy could reply, however, there was a knock on the door, and Lavi popped his head in. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but your stop his here," he told Tyki.

Tyki grinned, readjusting his weird thick swirly glasses in place. "Wonderful," he said, giving a grin to the boy. "Hope to see you around, Shounen." He walked out of the train, catching up with his friends. They had already put back on their clothing, since Allen had been kind enough to give them back.

Eeze, the child, held out something in his hand to Allen, said exorcist teen already knowing that it was one of the buttons Tyki had retrieved from a mission.

But he smiled questioningly at him, eyebrows raised.

"Eeze, that's your treasure!" Tyki exclaimed, grinning. "Here, I have something else for him."

The train was already moving away, and Allen smiled. "It's alright, I don't need anything."

A deck of cards flew through the air, and Allen caught them with a gloved hand. "Consider that as payment!" Tyki called, holding Eeze's hand.

Allen grinned, nodding back and waving as the train went out of sight.

* * *

**Hey, look I finished! *sweatdrop* I really have to make a goal to get over three thousand words...but it probably won't happen. XD**

**Thank you all who have reviewed and such! I'm so glad that I have made it so far in the story with so many supporters...:D It's really fun for me too! I have increased my typing speed to ten times as fast as it used to be, and I now like to brag about that to my dad and stepmom. Lord knows I constantly annoy them with all the Japanese stuff I'm into...Vocaloid, manga, anime...The list goes on and on. XD **

**So, the Olympics is starting on my mom's and Grace's birthday, July 27th! I think Hatsune Miku is going to be singing, so I'm pretty excited about that. I'm not sure if it really is true, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Because if she sang World Is Mine, I would freak the heck out of my family by singing along. XD **

**I would appreciate it if you would please review! :D Thank you!**


	12. Let's See Where This Goes

***dies* I'm thirsty. T.T Sorry I'm updating late...I had been on the computer too much, so Dad said I needed a break...*sweatdrop***

**valiantsquirrel: He doesn't exactly 'support' the idea, but he supports the Earl. So he's just kinda just going along with it. :]**

**99DenmonChick99: While I agree with you about real singers and stuff, their music is still entertaining. Plus, I get to freak out everyone. I just think it would be really cool for one to play at the Olympics, since it's a hologram-ish thing. It's funny because they have real people playing the instruments in the band. XD But anyway, the songs are still good, whether it's a human being or not. And it actually does put emotion in the song, because if they didn't, I have no idea how I broke down in tears in Sevant of Evil. XDDD**

**Dedicated to my mom, who is always optimistic about everything. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man. At all. So get over it.**

* * *

Lenalee didn't quite know what she thought of Allen. He seemed very polite and kind, but he just seemed very...cautious. Most of the time she would see him playing around with Timcanpy, and it seemed that he would only hang out with anyone if he had to. It made Lenalee rather unsettled at his behavior.

Speaking of which, said boy was stretching Timcanpy's back and forth. She leaned forward as she heard him exhale, looking quite bored.

"Ne, Tim," he said, unaware of the girl peeking around the corner. "I've got a headache." He paused, poking him curiously. "Do golems get headaches, too?"

Getting no response from him, Allen sat up in the chair he was currently occupying, yawning widely. He mumbled something Lenalee couldn't quite catch, making her lean forward. However, she was not expecting him to walk right into her. He blinked in surprise.

"Oh, Lenalee! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there-wait, were you spying on me?" He eyed the position she was in, where she had a perfect view of where he had been sitting in the Science Department. He had had nothing to do, so he had come there without a second thought, looking around for something to entertain him, ultimately failing.

She waved her hands around frantically, shaking her head rapidly. "N-no! Why would I do that?" she laughed nervously.

"Isn't that what I should be asking you?" he asked in amusement, smiling politely.

Lenalee, who was still pretty flustered, grinned at her fellow exorcist. "W-well, I guess I'll see you later then. Bye!" And she was out of there before Allen could say another word.

Allen shrugged, looking puzzled. "I don't get girls," he muttered, looking at Timcanpy. "Do you?"

TImcanpy shook his head, little legs flopping around with it.

"Ah, well." And he set off to his room, intending to go visit the Earl and give him his report.

* * *

Road was super bored, since she had been waiting for Allen to come all day. After Tyki had told her that he had said he was coming that day, she was too excited to really do anything but wait. She couldn't concentrate on her homework, instead tapping her pencil repeatedly against the desk.

Finally, Tyki sighed impatiently. "Road. Can you please stop tapping your pencil? I'm trying to read."

Road looked up, smirking. "Oh, you mean like this?" She tapped it louder than before, just to annoy him.

He twitched. "Yes," he gritted out. "Exactly like that."

"I'll stop if you get Allen to come right now," Road challenged, knowing he wouldn't be able to do it.

Tyki snorted, rolling his eyes. "Oh yeah, I can summon in from midair. You shall appear before me, Allen Walker!" he said in a deep and mystic voice.

There was a flash of white life, and Allen was suddenly staggering, trying to balance himself, while Tyki was clutching his head, on the floor in front of Allen.

"Woah, it actually worked!" Road said excitedly, swiping her unfinished homework off of the desk and landing in the trash can. "Do it again, Tyki!"

"If that happens every time I 'summon' him, then I don't wanna," he groaned, head spinning from the impact of Allen ramming into him.

"Sorry Tyki," Allen said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "My aim was a little off."

"Huh?" they blinked dumbly.

"Oh, that's right," he snapped his fingers. "I forgot that me and the Earl hadn't told you. I'm the host for the Fourteenth Noah, so I can control the Ark. That's how I got in before."

"Whaaaat?" Road exclaimed excitedly. "I thought that the Earl was just letting you in! That's, like, so cool! That means that you're really part of the family now!" She clapped her hands.

Tyki just sat there on the floor, jaw hanging wide open. Allen leaned forward, waiting for some kind of reaction out of the older man. "Do you think he would come out of it if I put a pair of the Earl's dirty underwear in his mouth?" he asked, a mixture of curiosity and thoughtfulness etched into his features.

Tyki choked, eyes wide, mouth shutting immediately. "You wouldn't," he gasped, staring at Allen. The boy just smirked. Road cackled in glee, grinning at her uncle with amusement.

"How do you even _know _where he keeps his dirty underwear?" Tyki demanded, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "That should be against the law to threaten someone with that. Seriously."

Allen just shrugged, eyes light with humor. "I know everything about the Earl. It just so happened that things like this popped up in our conversations."

Awkward silence filled the room, although Road was trying her best not to fall over in laughter.

"Anyway!" Allen clapped his gloved hands together. "I need to go talk to the Earl, so I'll see you guys in a few minutes..."

The moment Allen had left the room, Road wasn't able to contain herself any longer. The girl fell out of her seat, giggling uncontrollably.

"This only goes to show that my family is nuts," Tyki sighed, head resting in his hands.

* * *

"So they've gotten a new exorcist, then?" The Earl sat in his favorite chair, hands thread together as he looked at Allen intently, gaze filled with interest.

"Yes," he nodded. "The akuma Eliade had disobeyed your orders," he added as an after thought. "But she's gone now."

The Earl nodded, grinning. "On to other matters...Allen-kun, I've missed you!" And he pretty much glomped the unsuspecting boy of fifteen.

"E-Earl," he managed to choke out, blinking in surprise. "You're suffocating me!"

The Earl chuckled, letting him go. He immediately started gasping for air, hunched over. "Lord, Earl, could you be any more heavier?" he grumbled, but he was grinning.

"So sorry, but you looked so serious, it was just so cute." The grin on Allen's face turned in to a scowl, and he crossed his arms.

"I am _not _cute," he said, pouting.

"If you say so," the Earl replied cheerfully.

"Really, I'm not!"

"Sure you're not, Allen. Oh, look at the time, I must get going! See you, Allen-chan!" The Earl stood up hastily, and Allen sighed, smiling.

"Bye Earl-woah wpah, what?" He finally caught what the Earl had called him, and he called after the retreating figure of the Earl, "Who're you calling _chan_?"

* * *

Kanda scowled as he passed Lenalee, who was pressed up against a door with Lavi right next to her. Then the image registered to his mind, and he stopped. He turned slowly, blinking.

"What are you two _doing?" _he said in disbelief, watching as they jumped away from the door. "...Isn't that the Beansprout's room?"

"Well, we don't think he's in there!" Lavi said indignantly. "He did that the other day ago too, he just locked the door and pulled the curtains to his windows and stuff, and if we knock or whatever, he doesn't answer!"

"It's really weird," Lenalee said, almost glaring in frustration at the door. **(A/N What is with Allen and doors? XD) **

Kanda sighed in exasperation, walking up to them. "Get out of the way," he deadpanned.

* * *

"Allen~" Road was clutching to Allen, again. "Don't goooo!"

Tyki rolled his eyes as he saw Allen look over at him with pleading eyes. "No can do, Shounen. There is no way I am risking my life to save you. Road'll probably penetrate me with candles."

Allen pursed his lips in thought, frowning as he tried to think of things that would get a wailing Road off of him. "Hmm..."

Tyki shook his head in amusement. "Just give it up. No one has ever been able to get a Road who's not willing to do something."

Allen smirked, an idea forming in his mind. "Oh really?" he asked innocently.

"Really!" Road giggled. "You might as well give up now and stay longer!"

Allen grinned wickedly. "Do you remember four or five years ago when the Earl punished you and the twins for destroying the hallway and the door?"

"Yes," Tyki said warily, not liking the look in the younger boy's eyes.

"What if I said I was the one who made up your punishments?"

Road gasped, recoiling from clinging to Allen's waist. "You _didn't!" _

Tyki blinked, staring at Allen in shock. "You really are heartless," he said in horror.

Allen just grinned, saluting to them as he walked through the Gate he had just opened. "See you on the Dark Side," he said spookily, laughing. "I've always wanted to say that!" And he flashed back to the Black Order.

"...What...just happened?" Tyki asked in confusion.

"He tricked me!" Road said in realization. "But that's impossible!"

"It seems that that boy can do the impossible," Tyki muttered, staring at the place Allen had disappeared.

* * *

It seemed that Lady Luck was on Allen's side.

There was a flash of white light just as Kanda kicked down the door rather harshly, looking really quite annoyed. He blinked as his eyes recovered from the bright light, his annoyed expression turning to one of confusion.

Lenalee and Lavi poked their heads in from both sides of Kanda, noticing the room turn back to its normal darkness.

"What the heck, Beansprout?" Kanda demanded, rubbing an eye as it recovered. "What was that?"

Allen was propped up on his elbows, Timcanpy perched up on his head. Apparently he had become quite attached to the boy, seeing as he followed him pretty much everywhere. He had even come onto the Ark with him.

Allen leaned forward on his bed, eyebrows raised. "What're you talking about, Kanda?" he smiled pleasantly.

The other two piled in the room, also staring at Allen.

"What was that bright light?" Lenalee asked hesitantly, wanting to come on slowly to urge the boy to tell them.

He frowned in thought, then reached behind him to something. "Oh," he laughed, bringing it out. "You mean the flashlight?"

They all stared stupidly at the flashlight in his hands. Allen laughed at their confusion. "I was just seeing if I could find Tim with the flashlight, because I was bored. It was rather fun. The light must have shined in your eyes when you...er, broke my door. You'll have to pay for that, Kanda, just so you know."

He seemed invincible against the death glare the raven-haired man gave him, instead choosing to usher them out. "I wasn't feeling very good, so sorry if I didn't answer the door. I think I'm going to go to bed now, so I'll see you in the morning, hmm?"

His voice was rushed, and as Lenalee and Lavi opened their mouths to reply to him, he had pushed the door up, apparently putting something behind it to keep it upright.

Kanda glared at the two icily, and they shifted uneasily. "O-oops," Lenalee laughed. "Looks like it was all a big misunderstanding then," Lavi joined in her laughter, both starting to back up slowly.

"You two are paying for the door," he growled threateningly.

"Of course!" they said in chorus, dashing off to their own rooms to avoid being murdered by Kanda.

Kanda sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm surrounded by idiots," he muttered.

* * *

**Whew! I'm done with that chapter. And remember, it's Tuesday, so I need to hit one hundred! *fistpump* C'mon, guys! And girls! **

**I just kept writing and writing and writing and-HOLY CRAP HOW IS IT TEN ALREADY? My reaction when I glanced at the time in the corner. So yeah.**

**Tyki and Road found out that Allen planned their punishments! XD This was very fun to write, so the time flew by for me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!**

**Nine more days before I have a new baby brother! Yaaay! I'm going to be eating pizza in front of my step mom while she's in labor. XD Can't wait! (We decided that we needed ice cream too.)**

**Read and review, please!**


	13. An Idea Forms

**So...close...Almost to 100...Seems my goal failed. Ah well! **

**Thanks to all of you people who reviewed and stuff! :D There's nothing I really have to say right now...**

**Dedicated to my grandma, for being as sweet as can be.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, even if I said so. I only say this because there are a lot of idiots out there, who might think I did own it if I said so. So yeah. On with the show!**

* * *

Allen had a splitting headache, and it just wouldn't go away. And he realized that sooner or later, the first marks of a Noah would appear on his forehead.

Rubbing his temples, he sent Timcanpy in the Ark to relay the news to the Earl, just so he knew. He very well wouldn't be able to stay here at the Black Order for much longer if he was already becoming a Noah.

A knock on the door signaled that someone, probably Lenalee, had come to get him, or something of the sort. As if reading his mind, a female voice called out, "Allen! Komui wants to see us in his office!"

"Coming," he replied, stretching out his limbs as he stood. Rubbing his forehead once more, he plastered on a smile and opened the door to reveal Lenalee standing in front of him. She smiled at him. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," he yawned, looking around. "Tim wandered off somewhere...He'll find me later." He shrugged, following Lenalee as they walked down the halls.

"Okay," Lenalee said over her shoulder, glancing back at him. He seemed a bit off. She mentally shrugged it off, thinking nothing of it.

They entered Komui's office to find Lavi, Bookman, and Krory waiting there. Krory looked slightly uncomfortable, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "Ah, you're here!" Komui said, grinning when he looked up to see the two enter.

Allen smiled. "Morning, Komui. What're we all here for now?"

His grin faded and became solemn. "It seems that the Noah and the Millennium Earl are on a 'God Hunt'. They have already killed a General, so we think that their main targets are the Generals. You will find and protect General Cross." He explained the rest of the situation, folding his hands together.

"And that's it, then. You'll leave as soon as possible," Komui finished, looking at the exorcists.

* * *

A few hours later, and they were all boarded on the train. Lavi peered over at Allen, who seemed to be steadying himself, even though he was sitting down. "You okay, Allen?"

"Huh?" He looked up, blinking at Lavi. "Yeah, just a bit dizzy is all." He laughed.

Lenalee and Lavi shared a look, while the other two just seemed to keep quiet. Allen stood up abruptly, eyes flashing. "I'm going to...go get some air," he said awkwardly, making his way out of the compartment.

Lenalee watched him worriedly. "He seems on edge today," she noted.

"Isn't he always?" Bookman questioned, finally speaking.

Silence surrounded the companions.

* * *

"What're you doing here, Road?"

The girl looked up from licking her colorful lollipop, grinning widely as she saw the white-haired boy step up to her on the railing. They were in the caboose, which was looking over at the rushing-past scenery.

"I heard that you weren't feeling well," she pouted, bringing out a golden ball. "Tim," Allen said, and it fluttered into his hand.

Road grinned, pulling out a sucker. "Want one?" she offered.

A grin found it's way on his face and he shrugged, taking it. "Bubble gum?" he snickered, looking at the wrapper.

Road rolled her eyes, pulling Allen in a hug. "When do you think you'll be coming home for good?" she asked.

"Who knows? It could be today," Allen answered, looking over at her. She was looking right at him, licking her treat slowly. He gulped, averting his eyes away quickly. Road giggled, sticking out her tongue.

"How's Tyki?" he continued, a faint blush creeping up on his complexion.

"Smoking," Road deadpanned. "As always. I swear, it crowds up the whole house."

Allen laughed, sticking the sucker in his mouth. "That's not surprising."

Road stole a glance at Allen, then suddenly pouted. "I'm not going to forgive you so soon for making me clean that room yet."

He raised his eyebrows, turning to face her. "That was like, half a decade ago."

"So? That is still the worst day of my life, to this day."

He snickered, rolling his eyes. He leaned down real close to her, grinning at the blush that dusted across her cheeks. "How could I make it up to you then?"

Road was trying her best not to turn as ripe as a tomato. "E-er," was all she could say before Allen's lips touched hers, pulling her into a kiss.

They stayed like that for a minute, before Allen pulled away, smirking. Road looked away, embarrassed. "I forgive you," she muttered, making Allen grin wider.

"Aw, you look so embarrassed," Allen laughed, making Road's pout activate again.

"You're so mean, Allen," she scowled, tackling him to the floor.

Allen rolled his eyes, eyes flickering at the railing. "Don't push us over!" he scolded, smirking. "That might end rather badly."

Road grinned down at him. "For you, maybe."

"And you, if you don't save me. The Earl'd be furious at you," he snickered.

"No fair! The Earl always gets you out of trouble, even if he's not here!" Road crossed her arms, still sitting on Allen.

Allen shuffled around, trying to get her unbalanced so he could get up. "Um...Could you get off of me, Road?"

"Not a chance," she said immediately.

He blinked. "What if the exorcists find us?"

"So what?"

_"Well, _that might be a bit of a problem, don't you think?"

"Why?"

"Darn it, Road!"

Road giggled. "You might as well get comfortable, because I have the feeling we'll be like this for a while."

"..."

"Don't act as if you don't like it, Allen. You know you do."

"Whatever," he sighed.

* * *

"Don't you think he's taking a long time?"

Lavi looked up from his book to see a worried Lenalee peeking through a crack in the door.

"I'm sure he's fine," Lavi shrugged. "I say we start looking for him after three hours. If he's okay, he'll be in his boxers. If he's not, he'll be dead."

Even Bookman had to turn around and stare at his apprentice. "What?" Lenalee blinked, processing what he had said.

Lavi snapped his fingers. "Oops, that was Krory. Never mind."

"Hey!" Krory protested. "That only happened once!"

"And it's sure to happen again, Krow-chan." Before Krory could answer, Lavi clapped his hands together. "Anyway!" he said cheerfully. "Give him another five minutes, and we'll go check on him, hmm?"

"I guess," Lenalee said reluctantly.

"Stubborn girl," Lavi laughed.

"Rude kids," Krory muttered.

"Horrible life," Bookman joined in.

They all stared at him. "Well, it's true."

* * *

Allen's waist was starting to get a tad numb. Finally put up with the whole situation, he pushed Road off of him lightly, standing up. "I am almost one hundred percent sure that I need to go," he said.

"Aw, but Allen! What if you start to turn in to a Noah in front of all of them?" Road protested. He shrugged.

"It's not like I can just disappear right now. It'd make them think I committed suicide or something. Unless you have a plan?"

"I always have a plan. Always," Road smirked.

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"At the rate you're going at, the first cross will appear in thirty, forty-five minutes, right?"

"I guess."

"When that happens, I'll come and get you. Just go along with it, okay?"

Allen looked at her suspiciously. "...Okay."

"I'll see you soon then, Allen." She pecked him on the cheek, opening one of her doors.

"Bye," he said, the door disappearing just as Lavi and Lenalee knocked on the door behind him. "Allen?"

He whirled around, blinking shock. "Lord, are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?" He gasped, hand on his chest.

"You were taking forever, though," Lavi said, rolling his eyes.

"I was just about to come in," Allen said, walking past them and pulling the sliding door shut.

"Suuure," Lavi said, rolling his eye.

Lenalee frowned, glancing over at Allen when he winced, as if in pain. "Are you really okay, Allen?"

"It's just a headache," he assured her, smiling. "A really, really painful headache."

* * *

Road twirled Lero, who had accepted his fate by now, and threw away the stick that was left over from her lollipop.

"And that's my plan," she concluded to the Earl, who she obviously needed permission from in order to carry it out.

"Hmm," the Earl hummed thoughtfully. "You know, that actually isn't a bad idea. Why can't you put this much effort in your homework?"

"Because I don't get a cute British boy out of it," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The Earl decided to skip over this topic, instead saying, "You have my permission to do this plan of yours. It certainly will make this tale more interesting, don't you think?"

"I sure do hope so," Road grinned. "C'mon, Lero, let's go visit the exorcists!" she cheered, much to Lero's horror.

"Why me, lero?" he moaned as he was taken away to hover over the train.

* * *

Allen felt a painful throb to his forehead, and his hands automatically cradled his head, which was bowed over so the others wouldn't be able to see his face.

"Allen?" Lenalee asked, concerned. "Are you all right?"

Allen couldn't answer, eyes instead straying to the window. The pain was slowly becoming unbearable, and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. A drop of blood fell from his bottom lip from biting it so hard. Where was Road? She should be here by now.

CRASH.

BOOM.

"Hiii~"

Ah, there she was.

* * *

**Finished~ I updated early, too! YAY! *happy dance* **

**Okay. This is it, guys. We're going to hit one hundred today. :'D**

**If you guys think Road has some brilliant plan-she doesn't. It just seems brilliant to them because it's the 19th century. XD**

**I'm going to try and make the next chapter longer, because this one...seems way too short to me. I have the feeling that my writing is getting worse for some reason...T.T (I think that looks cool for some reason XD) But yeah, I'll try my best to make the nest one longer. I'm also writing a rough draft of an idea I have for another story, so the updates might be late every once and a while.**

**I think I'll go listen to Ievan Polkka now, so byeee~! **

**So ~ Read and review, pretty please with a cherry on top?**


	14. An Impossible Feat

***looks at last chapter, which got twelve reviews* *looks at one before that, which got four* "..." -_-" Yeahhh...**

**I just watched the new Ice Age movie, and I want little Saber Tooth cubs in the next one. I shall diiiiie if there isn't any, because I can just see it now. x3 I felt like such a kid when I went to see it, too...It was rather embarrassing. XD**

**TeriyakixPanda8: I had to respond to this one because it was so random. You didn't even write anything but ". . ." so I was like, "...is there a glitch or something?" After I reassured myself that there wasn't one, I laughed. So props to you. XDDD**

**ruin of degradation: Heh...No. XD I can't do that because it would mess up the sketch in my head, plus having to make up a billion excuses for Allen to tell to the Black Order. And it just doesn't seem logical in my head, and I won't allow myself to even daydream about illogical things. I (unfortunately) think about everything in a way that I can understand it at least partially. Gomen, but I just can't use your idea. D: *glomps* **

**valiantsquirrel: OMG, I looked that up, and I was like, "WHY DIDN'T I FIND THIS SOONER?" XD And arigato for the compliment!**

**99DenmonChick99: Aw, thank you! I have found out that authors always try to think lowly of themselves...*sweatdrop* **

**Dedicated to my (step?) Auntie Hannah, who is seventeen and likes Spongebob Squarepants. :D**

**Disclaimer: This is disclaimed by me.**

* * *

The train had stopped, due to the destruction it had received, and a giant hole was in the side of it. It had toppled over, forcing the exorcists to clamber over the edge of the steaming side, where the explosion had occurred. **  
**

Lenalee supported Allen out of it, said fifteen-year-old still keeping his hands to hide forehead. Perhaps he had been cut when the glass shattered? Lenalee mused in her head. It was quite the possibility since she herself had a large gash on her right arm.

But, no, she realized. Hadn't he reacted before the train exploded?

She glanced over to see Lavi carrying Bookman out of the train, and Kanda Krory. They appeared to be unconscious.

Before she could consider these things, however, a certain blue-haired Noah came into sight, balancing not-so-carefully on an umbrella with a pumpkin on the top. "Oh, you survived!" she said gleefully, clapping her little hands together.

"You," Kanda growled, glaring at her. She smiled back.

"I remember you! You were the one who was with that clock-Innocence-woman, right?" She paused, searching for an answer. "Ah, that's right! Kanda, was it?"

The (seemingly) older man didn't reply, choosing instead to scowl at her.

Her gaze turned immediately to the pained Allen. "Allen! Looks like I didn't kill you soon enough..." she sighed, grinning wider. "What's wrong, Allen? You look as if your head is hurting."

Lavi's eyes widened in realization. "You're the Noah of Dreams," he murmured. "So that means you can get inside people's minds..."

Road clasped her hands together. "Correct! You're a smart one. Allen over here is suffering from mental pain, so you won't be able to help him that much."

Lenalee stiffened, glaring with such anger and malice that it surprised even Kanda. "You Noahs are heartless," she spat. "You just destroy everything in your way and torture anyone who stands up to you!"

"This is true," Road admitted, humming.

And before she knew it, she had been knocked out. Swirls of color invaded her vision, making her stumble. Collapsing to the ground, she felt a throbbing in her head. And she swam in blackness.

* * *

"Lenalee!" Lavi cried, rushing to catch the falling girl. Road giggled, swinging her legs from on top of Lero. This was much easier than she had thought it would be. And even that hadn't been very high.

She easily intruded into his mind, making him flinch in pain. He seemed to be very weak-minded, at least when it came to having a strong mind to protect itself. She grinned sadistically when she saw him too fall unconscious.

And then there was one.

Her eyes trailed to the one she had met in the Rewinding Town. He would be harder to beat, seeing as he was actually quite strong-minded. "What are you going to do, now, Kanda? Your comrades won't be able to help you now."

Kanda "che'ed." "I'm going to kick your butt, of course."

He lunged, Mugen aimed straight at Road's heart. "Ah ah ah," she smiled, fingers wrapping around the sword a centimeter away from her chest. Kanda's eyes widened. "I won't be that easy to beat."

* * *

Well, at least he had been right in saying that he wouldn't be easy to defeat. Road looked down at the raven-haired exorcist, whom had taken a tad over thirty minutes to knock out. It had been such a waste of time.

She turned her attention away from the troublesome man to Allen, who was slowly pulling his white glove away from his forehead. It was now stained with red, she noticed. She lowered herself to the ground, hopping down from Lero.

"Allen! Are you okay?" she asked, worried for the boy.

He finally looked up, revealing four crosses etched on it, two on each side. Blood was trailing down from them as a new one started to carve it's way on to him. "We should get you home," she said, helping him up. "We want to make sure that every thing turns out correctly."

He nodded, giving her a strained smile. "Thank you, Road."

She tilted her head away from his gaze to avoid him seeing her pink cheeks. "No problem."

* * *

Lenalee groaned, sitting up slowly. "What happened?" she asked, dazed as she looked over at the others, who were too waking up.

"Road got away," Kanda said grimly, grimacing as he rubbed his head. The pain was slowly fading away, much to his relief.

"But what did she come here for?" Lavi said, perplexed. If she hadn't came here to kill them or give them a message or whatever, what could she possibly have wanted?

They got their answer as soon as Lenalee asked, worry lacing her tone, "Where's Allen?"

* * *

Road sat next to a sleeping Allen, watching in interest as the seventh and final cross started to form. "It's almost done!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands in glee, standing up. "Tyki, you stay here and watch Allen while I go get the Earl!"

Tyki shrugged. "Hurry up, will you?"

She was already gone, the door creaking on it's hinges. He sighed, slapping his forehead. "Never mind."

His eyes turned to the boy laying on the bed, breathing heavily. At some point in the transformation, he had requested Road to put him to sleep until it was over, due to the pain.

Tyki sat at his bedside, frowning in thought at Allen. How was it possible that he looked so good even when he was sweating? There had to be a rule against that.

He had little to no shame in admitting that the boy was quite attractive, but if he told Allen this, he would probably think that he was some kind of nutty stalker or something like that. Which he obviously _wasn't. _

Road zipped back in the room, back in her seat beside Allen as if she had never left. The Earl followed a moment later, because he obviously couldn't run. At all. Let alone going as fast as Road could.

Allen groaned, shifting around as his skin darkened. Amber eyes opened slowly, followed by blinking groggily. Road had whipped out of her chair, and had apparently transported to the other side of the bed, hovering right above him.

"Road...?" Allen muttered, eyes adjusting to the low lighting. He blinked again as his eyes settled clearly on her.

"Allen! Isn't it awesome, you're a Noah too now!" she squealed, which made the Earl come and pick her up off of the bed, plopping her back in her chair.

"Road, you know how much I care about you," he started with a smile. "But you are _too loud._"

She pouted, crossing her arms in defiance. "Am not."

"Are too," Tyki and Allen said together, although Allen's reply came out a little subdued as he sat up.

"Anyone got a mirror?" he asked, wanting to see what he looked like.

And, of course, Road brought out one of her many mirrors, tossing it to him. He caught it, holding it delicately as he examined his appearance.

"...So?" Tyki finally asked, not being able to stand the silence in the room.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head back and forth to see it from all angles. "Interesting."

The Earl chuckled. "As much as I would love to stay, I must go. I'm going to a party with some ministers," he sighed.

"Okay, Earl," Allen said, glancing up from his reflection.

"Bye~" Road said, attacking him with a hug.

Tyki gave a halfhearted wave, not really caring either way. Such love he showed his family.

* * *

Komui was pacing his office, scattering papers every where as he kicked them. "What do you mean that they _took _him?" he demanded to the exorcists beyond the wireless golem.

Lavi winced. _"Just that. Road messed with our heads and pretty much made us faint, and then for some reason she took Allen with her when she left." _

"Allen seems to be causing us a lot of trouble," Komui noted, twitching as he sighed. "Making us search for him, food expenses, and now this." He slapped his forehead. "Heaven forbid he stay out of trouble! Of course it would be too much to ask!"

Lenalee seemed slightly worried by her older brother's behavior. _"Nii-san, why are you talking to yourself?"_

_"Because he's a nut case," _Kanda snorted from the background. _"He just hit another level of insanity." _

"It's not insanity," Komui scowled. "It's stress."

Kanda snorted. _"Whatever helps you sleep at night." _

"Shut up, Kanda! This is a serious problem!" Komui really did not want to get in to another argument questioning his sanity. He just didn't get why so many people called him mad.

_"Anyway," _Lavi interjected. _"Do we keep searching for General Cross or look for Allen? You're the boss here, Komui." _

_"Unfortunately," _Kanda muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, Kanda!" Komui pouted, expression then turning serious. "Keep searching for the General for the time being. If Allen's been kidnapped by Road, then there's nothing that we can do right now. I'm afraid that protecting the Generals is the main thing we need to be focusing on. Allen will just have to wait." It's not like Komui wanted to say this to them, but he had a job to do. This was war, after all.

* * *

Allen grinned at the two older Noahs as he flickered between his Noah form and his human form time and time again. Road watched with growing amusement, while Tyki just felt his impatience rise.

"Okay, that's enough for one day, Shounen," Tyki said cheerfully. "Let's go get dinner now. Food, Allen, food."

Allen stopped his switching, landing on his human form. "Great, I'm starved!" he said enthusiastically.

"You're always starved," Tyki grumbled.

Road giggled, pulling Allen's hand out of the room. "Come on, Allen! Last one there's a self-destructed akuma!"

"You're on!" he laughed, and they bolted, narrowly missing from crashing in to the door.

Tyki swore he could feel the breeze from the inhuman speed they ran at, and he was across the room. Look's like there was another little Noah who would wreck the house, and get Tyki to do anything for him, as an added plus. Life just wasn't fair.

He was also pretty sure that he and Road would be able to rule the entire freaking world if they really wanted to put the time and effort into it.

Great. Wonderful. Simply _amazing. _

Tyki could feel a headache coming on, so he went to stock up on aspirin.

He had a feeling he would need it in the future, too, so he grabbed two bottles just in case.

* * *

Road watched in unhidden joy as Allen practically inhaled his meal.

"Hey," Road said, a suddenly thoughtful look passing over her face. "Since I helped you with the whole getting-away-from-the-exorcists thing, will you do my homework for me?"

Allen looked over at her, pausing in his meal. "Not a chance."

She put her head in her arms, answer coming out muffled. "I thought you would say that."

He smirked. "Why not get Tyki to do it?"

She lifted her head, staring at him. "I've _tried. _In fact, I tried with everyone, but Skin is too dumb, the twins are just plain stupid, and Tyki is a meanie!"

Allen grinned. "If you supply me with my candy for a year, I'll get Tyki to do your homework for the same amount of time."

Road gaped. "What? That's impossible!"

"Well, I have accomplished the impossible many times before," Allen said, examining his nails.

"True," she admitted. "All right, you have yourself a deal." She handed over her homework, and he easily took it in his hands, pursing his lips.

"I'll be right back, then," he smiled. Then he paused. "And don't touch my food while I'm gone."

* * *

Tyki was reading his book peacefully, headache medicine at hand. he would need it at all times, because this family was too unpredictable for it's own good.

"Tyki-pon~" a sing-song voice said.

His head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Shounen. You are not allowed to call me that. Ever. Got it?"

"But the Earl calls you that!" Allen whined, hands behind his back.

"That's because he scares me half to death," the man replied, eyeing the bottle of pills.

"What if I told the Earl you were being mean?"

"You have an unfair advantage. Therefore, you are cheating. This is not allowed."

"Who said there were ever rules?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Allen finally said, "Anyway, I came here because I need help with something."

"...What?" he asked suspiciously.

Allen revealed the homework, smiling pleasantly. "Will you do this? For me?" He gave him the puppy eyes. Tyki looked away, trying his very best to avoid looking him in the eye.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"_No." _

"What if I gave you a kiss?"

Tyki stared at him incomprehensibly. "What?"

"A kiss. You know, on the lips."

"N-" he wasn't able to answer before Allen's lips descended on his.

Tyki thought he would hyperventilate any second now.

Finally after the _best moment of Tyki's life, _Allen pulled away, a smile on his face.

"Will you please do the homework now?"

"Sure," Tyki said, dazed as he took the paper and pencil.

_Piece of cake, _Allen thought, smirking inwardly.

* * *

Road stared at the books and sheets of paper that had been placed in front of her.

Hand shaking slightly, she slowly picked up one of the papers, eyes wide. "That's impossible," she whispered. "Impossible."

Almost every answer was correct, she saw in amazement. She flipped through the practices, wondering how on earth Allen had managed to get Tyki to do all of this. It had been a week's worth of homework, mostly because she didn't do the assigned homework, so her teachers gave her extra to be turned in on the Monday the next week.

"Well, I _can _do the impossible," Allen smirked.

* * *

**All done! :D I hope you all like it! **

**My mom's birthday is tomorrow, and it's also the starting of the Olympics. It seems that tomorrow is going to be a busy, busy day for me. -_-' Yay. Whoop-dee-doo. I'm only praying that I don't have to wake up super early, and I am allowed to sleep.**

**As promised, I made this chapter longer than the previous one. :D I just had to have some Poker Pair in there, so the idea of homework poked it's way in my head. Besides, who doesn't like Poker Pair? :D**

**See all of you later, then. Bye!**


	15. The Plot Thickens

**We are now on the fifteenth chapter! Woot!**

**Sorrysorrysorry I updated late. I was watching the Olympics and it was mom's birthday and I was passed out on the couch and THEN I had to (unwillingly) go fishing and then I had to take a shower cuz I was like "LET'S JUMP IN THE RIVER" which was huge, by the way, *next day* and then I woke up at 1 and had to go see a baby which took forever and we had to go to my dad's house and then my computer logged off and I didn't get to finish this chapter and yeah. That's it. -_-"**

**Guest: *OMGJapanesewordsSPAZZ* Aw, thank you! My first review in a different language. XD**

**OTHER Guest: AW THANK YOU :D And he's not two-timing. More like...convincing...Tyki to do the homework. XD**

**Kyoki o Tanashima: I don't think that that's the only way to get past one-hundred percent. Personally, I think they have to have a strong will or something that drives them to live, plus all that other jazz. After all, there were five Generals originally. And Cross doesn't seem the one to live for humans, let alone akuma. XD So yeah. :D**

******Why do I taste those orange things in the cups stuff? The ones that start with M? I forgot what it was was called...but I just ate coffee ice cream! How is it possible? Tell me, magic eight ball! *RAAANDOM***

**Dedicated to Charlie & Bradley, who moved and I haven't seen since one or two years ago. D:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man. Well, at least I think I don't...**

* * *

Lenalee was gazing worriedly at her hands, twining her fingers together and back out again. Lavi glanced over at her, giving her a smile.

"I'm sure Allen's alright," he said. "If he's survived fifteen years without anyone protecting him, then he must be pretty tough. There's no need to blame yourself."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Lavi."

"Hey, it's what friends are for, right?" he grinned.

Kanda scoffed, nose crinkling in disgust. Lavi noticed this, grinning wider. "Aw, does Yuu-chan not like friendship?"

Kanda exhaled slowly, a vein twitching on his forehead. In the blink of an eye, Mugen was pressed against Lavi's throat. "Don't call me that, idiot rabbit."

Lavi squeaked, chin tilted up to avoid the sword from piercing his skin."O-of course, Yu-er, I mean Kanda!" He winced at the blunder that had come so very close to occuring.

"Che." Heaving a breath of relief when Kanda pulled away, looking disinterested now, Lavi rubbed his neck. "Sheesh, talk about harsh," he grumbled.

Kanda raised his eyebrows, snorting. "I was going easy on you."

Lavi sighed. "I know, Yuu-chan. I know."

Kanda was, Lavi mused inside his head, too violent for his own good.

* * *

Road danced around Allen, clapping her hands. "Ne, Allen, the exorcists are going to be in Edo soon."

Allen looked up from gazing at hands boredly, interest now peaked. "So the plan'll happen soon?"

"Definitely. I think it will happen in a couple hours, at most." Road smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck, leaning forward so her mouth brushed against his ear lightly. "Then we'll proceed to the next chapter."

Allen grinned as Road backed up, looking delighted. "Great! I didn't know how much longer I could have put up with all this boredom. There is absolutely nothing to do." He glanced around curiously. "When will we start downloading the Ark?"

"Oh yeah! I had forgotten that you were going to help me with it! We could do it in a bit, I guess. Things'll go faster since there are two of us, so it's not like we have to hurry or anything."

Allen frowned, something else popping in his head. "Where's Tyki?"

"Eating carp somewhere, I think," Road rolled her eyes. "It's disgusting." Seriously, who ate live fish? Not to mention that he stole them from other people's ponds and stuff.

"Yes, well, Tyki does seem to have a tendency of being gross sometimes," Allen said casually, smirking. "Where's everyone else, then?"

"The twins are after the General, Marian Cross, and Skin's after one of the other Generals. The one with the glasses and curly hair, I think," Road answered. "I'm pretty sure that Lulubell's with the Earl, not quite sure though."

"Jasdevi still haven't killed Cross yet?" Allen raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Shocker."

"That's what I said," Road snickered, giggling.

"Great minds do work alike," Allen grinned back at her.

"Shall we go start on the Ark?" Road stretched out her muscles, yawning widely.

"Sure. I want to get something to eat afterwards." **  
**

"I knew you were going to say that," Road sighed, rolling her eyes with fond amusement.

* * *

~A Looooong While Later, When Everyone's Fighting~

Tyki smirked at the exorcists, leaning forward slightly. He struck at where their weak points were with his words, knowing that the blow would render them dazed and shocked.

"Don't you want to see your friend again? Ah, what was his name again..." He paused, snapping his fingers mockingly, grinning. "Allen, isn't it?"

Lavi gripped his hammer tighter, barely concealing his rage at the Noah. "Where is he?" he demanded.

"Hmm..." He drew out the seconds, humming in thought. It was obvious that he was stalling this for his own amusement, angering the exorcists further. "I think he's off playing with Road somewhere," he said, which was completely true.

It seemed that the exorcists were thinking of a different definition of 'playing' than Tyki was. Which would be ten times as entertaining when they actually saw that he was using it's correct usage.

"He might show up here later," Tyki continued, which was also true. He noticed as the Lenalee girl looked ready to burst in to tears at any second, and the long-haired one looked utterly annoyed. Well, he always did, but it seemed to increase slightly. What had Allen said his name was again? Ah, yes, Kanda.

"Will you be able to stay alive long enough to see him again, I wonder?" Tyki mused out loud.

Lavi grinned. "Definitely. We'll kick your sorry butts. By the time we see Allen, there won't be any of you left."

"Such confidence you have," the older man laughed.

"I'm going to need it, aren't I?" Lavi replied, activating his Innocence.

"I guess you are, Exorcist."

* * *

Tyki crossed his arms as the Earl dragged he and Skin away from the fight. He puffed out smoke, frowning. "Why'd you take us away, Earl? I was having fun over there."

"Ugh," he said cheerfully, completely ignoring Tyki's question. "You two have grown."

"You interrupted right when it was getting intense, too," Tyki sighed, disappointed at the lack of fighting he had received.

"I felt that you needed to be stopped for the time being," the Earl shrugged, uninterested.

Tyki's head snapped up to stare at the Earl in disbelief. "You dragged us back for no reason? What kind of logic is that?"

"Well, that and you were giving me a headache, Tyki-pon."

"_How?_" Tyki demanded.

"You were too...boring," the Earl stated bluntly. "It seemed like I needed to make things funner."

"Life isn't always that sweet, Earl," Skin commented, searching his pockets for something sweet to eat. He succeeded, pulling out a red sucker.

"..." Tyki frowned, speechless.

"Allen says that you owe us each a year supply of candy, Earl," a girl's voice floated down to them from one of the balconies.

"Oh, Road," the Earl said delightfully. Road jumped down from the balcony, almost floating as she pounced on the Earl. "Of course, of course."

"We'll be done soon, Earl," an amused tone came from the balcony once again. "The Ark will be downloaded in an hour or so, because of how I helped Road."

"Wonderful!" Allen hopped down from the railing, boots thumping on the ground next to Tyki. Allen crinkled his nose, looking at the smoking man.

"Did you change cigarette brands, Tyki?" he asked, sniffing closer to his face.

"No," Tyki said boredly, although he avoided Allen's piercing gaze, a pink tinge on his cheeks. It was quite faint, however, and, clueless as ever, Allen didn't notice it. "Why?"

Allen frowned, glancing around with suspicion. "It's nothing."

* * *

~Later. Again.~

Lenalee clutched the cloth of her clothes, biting down on her lip. She was worried about Kanda, and Krory...They had stayed to fight the other Noahs so the rest could go on ahead. Guilt washed over her, because if they died for them...

She didn't know what she would do. The idea itself was unbearable. So what would happen if it became true?

Lavi glanced at her, smiling. "They'll be okay," he said reassuringly. "Do you really Yuu would die out on us?"

Lenalee let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "No," she smiled. "I don't think he'd let Krory die, either, now that I think about. I'm worrying for nothing."

She was overreacting, she knew. But that didn't stop the tugging feeling in her stomach.

She glanced at Chaoji, who had been quiet most of the time that Lavi and she had been talking. He looked rather grim, if she said so herself.

As they reached the shining white door at the top of the stairs, she couldn't help but wonder if Allen would be there. While the Noah Tyki had hinted he would appear at sometime during the battle, there had been no trace of him yet.

Which also made Lenalee worry about what condition he would be in. She thought that it was very unlikely that he was unharmed and fine, and she could only pray that he would be able to heal over time. If Road had tortured him to the extent where he wouldn't be able to fight or think clearly, then she pretty much sure that they were dead. Literally.

They entered the room, finding that Tyki Mikk was sitting at a long table, looking very casual. "Ah, you've finally arrived," he said, smiling, although there was a hint of irritation in it. "Why don't you take a seat? Road and Allen should be here soon."

Lenalee flinched, gritting her teeth.

"Allen had better be alright, or I'll personally see to it that you'll die today," Lavi said, eyes narrowing.

"You exorcists are so serious," Tyki sighed. "He's fine. Lighten up a bit, won't you?"

A sudden crashing interrupted whatever Lavi was going to say. Tyki barely even spared a glance toward the direction where the noise had come from, instead sighing again and slapping his forehead. "Looks like they're here."

A large purple checkered door had appeared off to the side of the table, the door creaking open.

The exorcists (and Chaoji, but no one cares about him) watched with wide, expectant eyes as the two mentioned people came into view. What they saw made absolutely no sense to them.

Apparently, they had fallen when they had entered the room, because Allen was underneath Road, looking disgruntled and embarrassed, while Road smirked down at him, amused and pleased.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried, standing up quickly, pushing the chair back slightly. It squeaked across the floor, the noise almost making her wince. "Are you okay?" She seemed to put the position Road and Allen were in out of her mind, thinking that it was a mere coincidence. What confused her was that Allen didn't look like he was struggling or harmed in any way. What was going on? It didn't make any sense why he looked so...fine.

Allen didn't answer, shifting himself in a failed attempt to get out from under Road. "Road," he deadpanned. "This has happened several times in the past day. I'm starting to think that these aren't accidents."

"Of course they aren't," she giggled. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a kiss.

Lavi gaped, pointing with disbelief. Chaoji dropped the fork he had been holding, choking out, "Exorcist-sama?" And Lenalee just couldn't move. Her mind shut down as she stared at the two, whom's lips were still connected. She cleared her throat (more loudly than needed) and Allen twitched and pushed her off, blushing furiously.

Road giggled, offering him a hand, which he accepted. She pulled him up, Allen staggering a bit from the strength she put in it.

"Now he'll be all sensitive and embarrassed all week," Tyki smirked, amusement written all over his face. "I do have to say, our household is more interesting than any soap opera I've ever seen."

The blush on Allen's face faded a bit as he looked over at Tyki, eyebrows raised. "You watch soap operas?" he asked, a smile appearing.

Tyki stuttered out refusals at the claim, only making Allen grin harder. Road cackled, pulling Allen to the table.

"Allen?" Lenalee whispered, not believing her eyes at what was happening.

"What's going on?" Chaoji demanded, staring at Allen, his shock evident.

Lenalee glanced over at Lavi, and she could see by the look he wore, his mind was whizzing to record what was going on. She had a feeling that he was trying his best not to let any strong feelings seep on to his face.

Allen's eyes flew to Chaoji, probably because he had never seen or heard him before. He frowned then, looking thoughtful. "You're one of the survivors on that ship that drowned, right?" he said, blinking as he remembered something.

The protagonists stared at him, which he only shrugged to. "I do my research." He pulled back a chair, plopping into it. Road sat next to him, on the table instead of a chair, swinging her feet.

"So." Allen looked over at the exorcists and Chaoji. "How have you been doing?"

Lavi burst out into laughter, making Lenalee wonder if he had finally broke under the pressure. But as he straightened up, she saw a cold look in his eye. "'How have you been doing?'" he quoted, glaring at Allen. "We've been worrying about you, and here we find you making out with Noahs, perfectly fine. How do you think we're doing?"

"They are sensitive," Tyki blinked. "You were right, Allen. They do seem pretty upset."

Allen rolled his eyes, peering at him from the corner of his eye. "By the way, Tyki, you're going to be doing double the homework next week when I start school," he commented casually.

He slammed his balled hand on the table, scowling. "Dang it, Shounen!" he glared. "How did you get me to agree to do all this stupid homework?"

Allen gave him a look, smirking slowly. "Want me to make you remember?"

Tyki flushed while everyone else looked utterly confused. Then Road gasped in realization. "I didn't know you had a crush on Allen, Tyki!" she exclaimed. Allen was trying to stop the shudders of laughter that raked his body, failing miserably.

"On to other matters," Tyki said, almost pouting. Almost. Why was his family so mean to him? "I'm sure you lot over there have a lot of questions to ask Allen, so let's get on with it before I'm embarrassed by my horrible family members any further."

"He didn't deny it!" Road was cackling, on her back with her feet in the air.

"_Any_way," Tyki grounded out, looking pointedly at Road, who did her very best to stop her laughing. It didn't help much, but at least she was trying now. Then he looked over at the confused exorcists. "Well?"

Chaoji beat the other two at the punch. "Why did you betray the Black Order?" he demanded, eyes glaring at Allen, who looked bored.

"Huh?" He frowned, eyes focusing in on Chaoji. "I didn't betray them. You can't really betray someone if you were never on their side, can you?"

Lavi frowned right back at him. "How did you side with the Earl without becoming a Fallen One?" he asked monotonically.

"It's a secret," Allen hummed, grinning.

Lenalee jumped at a chance to get her question in. "Why would you want to destroy mankind?" she asked softly, eyes misty with the verge of bursting in tears.

Allen hesitated. "It's not that I want to destroy mankind," he said slowly, gazing out of the window thoughtfully. "It's just that I want to support my family. So I guess I'm just going along with it."

"How long have you been living with the Noah?" Lavi asked, curious at this information.

"About five years," Allen shrugged, eyes travelling to the food laid out across the table. His fingers twitched to grab something, but he resisted the urge to stuff it all in his mouth.

Even Chaoji seemed surprised at the amount of time he had been there. It was no wonder that so far he seemed very loyal to them.

"Why did he take you in if you have Innocence?" Lenalee came out with the question in all of their minds.

Allen chuckled. "It's a mystery to this day," he said spookily. "The Earl said that he felt as if he needed to bring me home with him. Even he doesn't really know why."

Road glanced out the window, a sadistic grin settling on her face. "Look outside!" she said, her expression excited. "It's wonderful."

Immediately, the room's occupants' eyes went to the window. "Looks like the download is almost finished," Tyki said, not looking that concerned. "Everything else is gone forever, I guess you could say."

Chaoji looked horrified, while Lenalee could feel the tears threatening to spill over her eyes and down her face. If everything was gone, did that mean Kanda and Krory were...? She couldn't even think the rest of the sentence, biting her lip almost hard enough to draw blood.

Lavi's eye flickered over to Lenalee, and noticing her pained look, he squeezed her hand. "I'm still not convinced that they're dead," he said, grinning.

She nodded, but she could see the doubt behind his optimistic face. He wasn't as sure of himself as he had been before, that much was obvious.

As if hearing their whispers, Allen grinned. "They're not dead," he called across the table. "There is a way to bring them back."

All eyes were on Allen now. Road and Tyki looked mildly surprised, exchanging looks. "What are you doing, Allen?" Road asked, a curious look in her eyes. "This isn't part of the plan."

He shrugged. "I'm sure the Earl won't mind, as long as we don't let them have the Ark. It's not as if something as little as a few more exorcists will change the plot, right?"

The two Noahs went over this in their minds, thinking it over. "I guess not," Tyki said finally.

"What are you talking about?" Chaoji demanded, glaring mainly at Allen. He was still upset about the fact of an exorcist on the Earl's side without becoming a Fallen One.

He frowned back at him. "You really should learn some manners." When Chaoji continued to glare icily at him, he shrugged. "I _could_ convince Road to restore the Ark, therefore bringing back your friends, for a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Lenalee questioned, hope restored as fast as it had disappeared.

Allen seemed to be playing with an idea in his head. "One that will entertain Road and me immensely."

Tyki looked immediately alarmed. "Why didn't I hear my name? I didn't hear my name!" He sounded very worried.

Allen grinned, looking at the exorcists instead of answering his question. "Do you accept?"

"We don't know what it is yet," Lavi's frown deepened as he stared back at Allen. "If you tell you what it is, then we just might consider it."

Allen huffed in irritation, crossing his arms. "Well, that wouldn't be any fun, would it? Just telling you like that." His eyes flickered to the window for a mere second before coming back to Lavi. "Besides, you're running out of time over there."

Lavi paused. "Should we?" he murmured quietly, looking at the others.

Lenalee chewed her lip in thought. "What choice do we have?" she finally said. "He's practically offering everyone's lives back. It's kind of hard to resist it, don't you think?"

Chaoji nodded in agreement, although it was very reluctant. "I guess it's the only thing we can do."

"Have you decided yet?" Allen said, straightening his gloves in his patient waiting. "Time's ticking away, you know."

Lavi hesitated for a second before confirming, "We accept this deal of yours."

Allen's smile widened, and amusement danced in his eyes. "Wonderful." Then he paused. "Where's Tim? I need to record this." He looked around at Road, who rolled her eyes. Her purple door appeared in the back of the room, letting a golden ball push it open. It landed on Allen's shoulder, making Lenalee gasp.

"Timcanpy! What're you doing over there?" she demanded, motioning him to come back over to them. She watched in amazement and horror as the golem shook his head back and forth rapidly. Was her whole world turning upside-down?

"Brilliant!" Allen said cheerfully. "Now we can watch this when we're bored, Road. We have to show the twins and the Earl when we get back, too."

"I doubt those twins are alive," Chaoji interjected, scowling. "The exorcist Krory seemed to be faring quite well when we left him."

Allen looked unfazed. "Oh, they're alive all right. Road and Tyki would have felt it if they had died." His expression darkened for a second though, face turning in to a scowl. "It does seem that Kanda managed to kill off Skin, though."

"May he rest in peace," Tyki muttered from beside him.

"The Noah inside us were crying for a long time," Road said, wiping her eyes from the memory, as if she were still crying. "Losing someone from your family...It's horrible, isn't it?"

The exorcists remained quiet, examining the Noahs with shock, since they were showing the first signs of sadness they had seen yet. It was surprising, Lenalee realized, because they had never thought of the Noah as human beings with actual feelings. They had never even thought that they had people they wanted to protect too.

Lavi cleared his throat awkwardly. "So. The deal?"

Allen's solemn expression turned to one of glee. He clapped his hands together, fingers clasping together. "Right! This is only going to involve Lavi over here, so you two can just watch and laugh and stuff," he addressed to Chaoji and Lenalee. They frowned, wondering why they would laugh in a situation like this. Why did Allen look so excited?

Tyki looked a bit wary of him, too. It was probably because he had a feeling that this was going to include him.

"Okay!" Allen cheered. "On to the road of amusement!" He looked at Lavi, a sudden devious look in his eyes, a smirk forming on his features. "Now, this is all you have to do."

* * *

**BWAHAHAHA! You guys thought you were going to get to see what Allen has planned? HECK no. I came up with this idea at 2am, and I was pretty excited about it. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter. :D**

**YES! I have accomplished my goal of getting over 3000 words! I hadn't expected this chapter to turn out so long...I had actually had quite a bit of writer's block in the beginning, but then the story started coming to me, man. 4000 words was definitely not expected.**

**I have a feeling that the updates are going to start coming late...*sweatdrop* I have so much on my plate right now, what with the baby being born in a few days. That, and I've been having a harder time of thinking up stuff for this story. But I have no intention of giving up on this story, like soooo many before me have. :D**

**It would mean a whole lot to me if you would review! Thank you!**


	16. Just A Kiss

**Hey, y'all, how are you? XD Happy Birthday Harry Potter, and 99DenmonChick99! (I know this story has nothing to do with Harry Potter, but I had to do it, man. I can't write on his birthday without saying that, cuz that'd be cruel.)**

**99DenmonChick99: HAPPY (LATE) BIRTHDAY! I hope it was filled with unicorn sparkles and yummy cake. :D**

**suckitblue: Thank you! Also, sorry about that. I fixed it. It was, like, really late, and I'm pretty sure I was starving and delusional. XD **

**Guest: Aw, thank you! All of you guys are so sweet! **

**TeriyakixPanda8: Haha, thank you! XD I will make your wish of more possible! :O**

**MsZeroOz: WOW. You reviewed eleven chapters. XD I just had to put that, mostly because I didn't think anyone would do that in a row. :D You said such nice things about me too. :]**

**Kyoki o Tanoshima: ...:O CORRECT. Personally, I don't support it, but I KNEW there were some readers who did, and it was screaming me in the face. That, and I was too lazy to come up with something else.**

**Akia-tan: I was actually planning to do that, but it came out differently. My mind was like, "NO. YOU DO FUNNY. NAO." And I shrugged and did it. So yeah. XD**

**Tiger723: I know right? And thank you about the baby. :D**

**Dedicated to J. K. Rowling, because if it weren't for her, I wouldn't ever put any effort in my grammar and sense. And she rocks, big time.  
**

**Disclaimer: Do you see thousands of fans at my door? No? Then I don't own D. Gray Man.**

* * *

"Now this is all you have to do."

The white-haired boy stood up, smirking. Lavi really didn't like that smirk. It reminded him of when he had played poker on the train. In other words, this was his 'Black' side.

He walked very slowly and deliberately toward the red-haired man, stopping right next to his ear and whispering in a quiet voice so that even Chaoji and Lenalee, who were sitting right next to him, wouldn't be able to hear Allen.

"You have to kiss Tyki," the boy murmured, making Lavi blanch.

"What?" he said, whipping his head around to stare at Allen, a look of complete horror spreading over his face.

"You heard me. That's the deal." Lavi glanced over at Timcanpy, who was already recording the event. The little traitor.

He shook his head side to side rapidly. "You-you can't be serious. Any thing but that, man! I'm begging you here!"

Lenalee and Chaoji exchanged curious looks. What could have gotten Lavi so worked up?

Allen snapped his fingers. "Oh!" He leaned back down to Lavi's ear again. "With tongue," he whispered devilishly.

Lavi couldn't move at all. His face, instead of the previous careful blank face he had come up with, had become distressed and shocked.

Road waved a hand over his face, raising her eyebrows. "What'd you do, Allen?" she giggled. "Now I'm looking forward to see what you came up with. " Her face became a slight pout, mixed with something along the lines of excitement and anticipation. "You always were good at coming up with stuff."

Lenalee looked curiously at her. "How so?"

Her face darkened. "Once upon a time, me and Tyki and the twins kind of destroyed the hallway and blasted open a door to see Allen, when we had specifically been told not to touch it. We had to spend the next day doing the number one worst thing in our books. At first, we had assumed that the Earl had come up with them."

All eyes travelled to an innocent-looking Allen.

"And then, just a few days ago, we found out that _someone _here came up with all of them." Road pouted over at Allen, who shrugged, sparing her no sympathy.

"I was bored. I have it all recorded, actually," he brightened, grinning at Road and Tyki, who stared at him with disbelief and disturbance.

"I couldn't have been that bad," Lenalee protested, frowning.

"I had to give the Earl massages all day," Tyki said, raising his eyebrows challengingly. "You think dying is bad? Try having to rub his back with a whole bottle of lotion."

Even Lavi snapped out of it, looking at Allen incredulously. "Are you serious? I think I actually just felt a drop of sympathy for you, Mikk."

Tyki hummed in agreement. "I think that is easily the worst day of my life." Then he frowned, a peculiar look crossing his face. "Do you have the twins' punishment recorded, too?"

Allen cackled. "Every second. Do you know how horrible Jasdero looks in blue eye shadow?"

Road gasped. "That must have been good! No fair, Allen!"

"I'll show you when we get home," he grinned. "We should have movie night and bring the whole family."

Tyki stared at his family member. "Oh my god, I think you're more evil than all of us."

The younger boy shrugged with nonchalance. "What can I say? It was fun."

"Yeah, for you," Road grumbled. "It is really, really gross to scrape off boogers of chairs."

Allen laughed. "Why thank you, I designed the whole set up myself."

"You _are _evil!" she gasped out, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Chaoji cleared his throat loudly, catching the others' attention. "Are we doing the deal?" he asked, looking at Lavi, who suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Come _on, _Lavi," Allen teased. "Everyone's lives are in your hands. I mean, it is your decision, and I couldn't care less what you choose." Actually, he did, because he really wanted to see Tyki get all confused and have that what-the-heck-just-happened look on his face. He crossed his fingers under the table, tightening his fingers so hard that it kinda hurt.

_Please, please, please say yes, _he chanted inside his head. _Oh, I beg you, say yes! _

Apparently his wishes were answered, because Lavi shifted in his seat and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Fine, we have a deal."

Allen propped his head on his hands, watching him expectantly, the grin widening with every second. "Get on with it, then. Road, you should really get comfortable and enjoy the show, because it's going to be a long one."

Lavi inwardly cursed; Allen was obviously hinting that it wouldn't be a five second one that he could get over with quickly. This kid was too smart for his own good.

He stood up awkwardly, making his way as fast as he could without plain out running to Tyki.

To say everyone other than Allen was flabbergasted when Lavi launched himself on to Tyki, planting his lips on the other's, would be the understatement of the century.

Allen was already on the ground, cackling madly. "This...is the _best..._day of my life," he managed, wiping a tear away from his eye from laughing so hard.

After Road had gotten over the shock of the kiss, she watched the rest of it play out with unhidden joy. "Allen," she started in utter admiration and amazement. "You are a genius."

Lenalee's mouth was hanging wide open, staring at the scene before her with disbelief. _Whaaat? This was the deal? _She did have to admit that this would be pretty amusing, if Tyki wasn't, well, a Noah or anything. But he was. So. Not amusing. Definitely not amusing. This was what Lenalee was trying desperately to keep thinking, but she started to falter in her repetition after half a minute went by, and their lips were still connected.

Chaoji's expression was really quite priceless. His mind shut down, eyes almost popping out of its sockets. His mouth opened, then closed again, this happening several times. He would've been a good actor for a fish, Allen mused somewhere in the back of his mind.

As for Tyki, the only reason he wasn't resisting was because the situation made absolutely no sense whatsoever to him. Oh, after this, he was so going to get Allen for this.

This thought only increased as the seconds passed by.

Finally, Lavi pulled away, both gasping for air. "Satisfied?" Lavi glared over at the overjoyed Allen.

"Very," Allen snickered. "That was quite the performance. I'm impressed." He looked over at the giggling Road. "So. We going to temporarily bring the Ark back?"

"'We?'" Lenalee echoed suspiciously.

The boy looked unconcerned. "I have a good eye to see if Road ever misses any mistakes, so we kind of come as a pair. She starts creating and demolishing stuff, I look over everything to make sure she doesn't miss anything. I think we're a good team, if I do say so myself."

He glanced over at Road, then frowned suddenly as the room began to shake. "Looks like we'll have to hurry," Allen frowned, looking at Road. "Is that possible?"

"What do you mean 'is that possible?'" Tyki asked, frowning at the two. "Of course it's possible, right?"

Road shook her head. "These things take time, Tyki. It looks like we're not going to have a lot of time."

The exorcists looked alarmed. "What are we going to do?" Lavi said worriedly. He didn't want to have kissed a Noah for nothing, after all.

And, what do you know, General Cross Marian appears right when they needed him. More so the exorcists because they didn't have a way out of there, but same thing.

"I knew there was someone else in here," Allen said, looking over at Cross. "You had a different brand of cigarettes than Tyki did, so I spotted it out easily."

Tyki gave Allen a look. "How do you know the differences in cigarette brands?"

"Oi, brat," Cross stated blandly, interrupting Allen's answer. "I think me and these Noah scum all know you have a way of getting out of here, so you better hurry it up."

Irritation spread over Allen's features. "That's only supposed to be used as a last resort."

Cross slapped his forehead in exasperation. "And this isn't one?"

"Good point," Allen admitted. "Road, coming?" He asked the petite girl. She shook her head, surprisingly.

"I've got to hold on to the Ark for as long as I can. Me and Tyki'll catch up with you later."

He nodded. "See you later then," he grinned, and in a flash of light, he was gone.

* * *

He paused inside the room, seeing something he hadn't seen before.

There was a shadow reflected in the mirror, grinning widely at him and motioning him to play.

Allen pursed his lips, and debated on something. He finally said, "Who are you?"

The grin widened. _"I am known as the Fourteenth." _

Allen's eyes widened slightly, before he nodded in acknowledge. This really shouldn't be surprising after living with the Earl for so long.

He sat down slowly on the piano, fingers tracing the black keys. He closed his eyes, the music flowing out, the voice singing in his head. Soon after, he began to sing along to it too.

He took a deep breath, slamming his fingers down, slashing through the air, sending his wishes through the music.

Why did the tune sound so sad? As if everything were breaking apart...When his hands connected with the piano, the crashing noise proving the point.

Sometimes the Earl or Road would come listen to him play, and once he could have sworn he had seen a crystal tear drop fall to her hand.

But when he looked away, it was gone. And she smiled at him reassuringly, so he let it pass.

Did the knowledge of losing everything you'd ever known make you so broken? It must have. Road had once let it slip that the Earl had been pretty broken up after the Fourteenth betrayed them. That he'd even cried. Allen had never seen the Earl cry before, so he had known that must have been serious. That the Fourteenth had killed his entire family except for Road and the Earl...How horrifing.

And the Ark restored itself, white light washing through the inky black sky.

* * *

"He did it," Lenalee breathed. How was that possible?

She looked over at the two Noah questioningly, but they refused to even look at them, in a heated discussion. Her eyes went to Cross instead, who smirked back. "You'll find out later," he grinned.

Later, huh? Lenalee supposed she could wait.

* * *

**Looks like you guys will have to wait, too...XD**

**Well, I was going to make this longer, but I had to get this out today, and my comp's logging me out in two minutes. Goodnight every body!  
**

**Once again, Happy Birthday 99DenmonChick99 (and Harry)!**

**Read and review, please!**


	17. Movie Night

**Weeeeell. I have writer's block. Lucky me. **

**Kyoki o Tanoshima: That's great! :D Oh, yes, I think they'd all be sad if he took over completely. And originally I guess Allen would feel at least a disliking toward him at first, but Allen's too caring in my head for that if he'd reflected on his actions. Now I feel as if I need to add some kind of Mana reference in here...Probably will, but yeah...XD**

**To everyone else, thank you! :DDD**

**Dedicated to my new baby brother, Zachary Van, who was born at 6:37 PM on August 4th. :D**

**Disclaimer: Personally, I don't think Hoshino is a human being, because she comes up with such amazing ideas. And cliffhangers. So. Definitely not me.**

* * *

"Holy crap Allen, I didn't know you had that much control over the Ark," Road said in an impressed voice as she skipped into the room. Luckily, the exorcists were out of range, muttering this and that under their breaths.

Allen made sure that he made it clear that the exorcists weren't allowed in the Fourteenth's room. It felt special to him in a way that no other place did, and that was one of the reasons that the Earl wasn't going to destroy the room, even if you couldn't do much with it other than play the piano.

The four exorcists (oh, didn't I tell you? That excuse of a man named Chaoji apparently became an accomodater) didn't look like they cared that much anyway, but Lenalee kept stealing glances through the cracked door. **  
**

"Me either," Allen said, leaning back on the piano bench. He refrained from mentioning the Fourteenth in the mirror, because it might just mark him as a crazy person. Only maybe, though.

Tyki still looked disgruntled, muttering incoherent things under his breath. Allen raised his eyebrows. "I thought you would enjoy that, Tyki," he teased.

Tyki crossed his arms, glaring down at Allen. "Shounen," he started, a pleasant smile on his lips. "I'm going to kill you later."

Allen shrugged. "Whatever. I'll get revenge, you know."

The man inched away from him. How come he could manage to look so evil without meaning to?

He blamed the Earl.

It was, after all, the only explanation.

* * *

Lavi frowned over at the Noahs and Allen. His mind was whizzing to keep up with what had happened this past hour, eye drinking in the information it was offered.

This also brought on a boatload of questions.

Why was Allen with the Noahs in the first place? How did he manage not to become a Fallen One? And, he repeated to himself time and time again, _why _didn't he notice that he was on the other side?

Now that he thought about it, it was painstakingly obvious to him that Allen had been on the Earl's side all along. That white flash he had seen those times had been when someone had opened door to the Ark for him; he had been out shopping with Road Kamelot the first time they had seen him, for Christ's sake! He felt immensely guilty for not noticing or caring about the details, blaming himself in his mind.

Lenalee looked over at him, worry evident in her expression. "You okay?" she asked, placing her hand over his.

It was official. Komui was going to kill him if he ever found out that his precious sister and the goofy Bookman-in-training were technically holding hands.

Oh well, at least he would be known as the bravest person alive in the Black Order for being the first male ever to (kinda) hold hands with Lenalee.

No, he didn't actually have a crush or whatever on Lenalee, but it was plainly obvious when one said that she looked pretty. Even with all her hair chopped off, she looked quite beautiful. Anyone would agree.

But Komui would kill even if he had no romantic interest in her, because Komui had the worst case of sister complex ever recorded in history.

Believe him, he would know. After the first meeting with Komui, Lavi went to Bookman's personal library and sat there for six and a half hours straight pooling over books that involved sister complexes.

He had to say, it was one of the most interesting things he had studied, mostly because of how Komui seemed to be ten times as protective than any of the others in the books seemed to be.

"Yeah," Lavi finally answered after a few moments of mulling all of this through his head. "Just really confused."

Lenalee snorted. "That's a given."

Chaoji grinned at his Innocence, before his eyes glanced over at Allen talking to Tyki and Road and it turned in to a scowl. "I just still can't believe that an exorcist would side with the people who caused Anita-san's death."

Lavi barked out a laugh. "Yeah, well, it seems as if the impossible has happened."

An amused voice came from behind them. "Well, I do seem to be able to do the impossible."

They all whipped around, startled as Allen examined his gloves.

"Lord knows how much that's true," Tyki muttered, stepping in beside him. Road laughed, latching on to Allen.

"Ne, Allen, bet you ten bucks you can't convince the twins to let you use their guns," she said to Allen gleefully.

Tyki turned to Road with an incredulous look. "You're going to be ten dollars short by tomorrow," he snorted.

Allen grinned. "Done. Bet you five that Tyki was going to try to get revenge on me by dropping water balloons filled with paint on my head."

"Deal," Road agreed, and they turned to look expectantly at the stuttering Tyki.

"Allen wins," Tyki said, slapping his forehead. There goes that plan.

"Brat," Cross said, coming in to the scene. He inspected Allen closely. "So the fat guy got to you first, huh?"

"Like you should talk." Allen frowned, thinking back. "Weren't you..." he coughed, looking embarrassed for a second. "Off...with some woman?" He worded these things very carefully.

They all stared at him while he turned to a new level of red with each passing moment.

"I guess you could say that," Cross finally said, looking at Allen with something of disbelief.

Tyki coughed. "Anyway, moving on," he paused, rolling his eyes at Allen. "We really do need to be going, things to do, people to see, the usual."

"Are you serious-," Lavi started, because they were all pushed through a portal. "Okay, not expecting that," Lavi admitted, rubbing his head in annoyance and slight pain.

"General Cross?" Lenalee said hesitantly.

"Hmm?" Cross didn't bother to look at her in the eye.

"Could you, you know, possibly get off me?" she asked.

"Eh?" He frowned, finally tilting his head up to look at her. He didn't answer for a minute, then sighed, standing up. He brushed himself off, frowning as he pulled Lenalee up.

Lavi snickered mentally; he would be in be trouble if Komui found out about that.

On to other matters straying from Komui and his obsessions, he examined their surroundings. It seemed as if they were still in the Ark, only in a different section of it. Something popped in to his head, and he almost smacked himself for forgetting.

"If the Ark is restored, what about Kanda and Krory?" he asked. Lenalee's head snapped up, a look of hope spreading across her face.

"That's right! f Allen kept his promise..." she trailed off. Lavi grinned.

"Only one way to try it, then." He took a big breath of air and yelled as loud as he could.

"YUU'S UNDERWEAR!"

A door slammed open, revealing Kanda's ever-scowling face.

"If you _ever _utter those words again, I will chop you in to so many pieces that they will never be able to find all the parts, Idiot Rabbit," he stated in such a casual voice that it was hard not to believe him.

"Is that Krow-chan you're carrying?" he asked, changing the subject and pointing over to Krory, who was draped over Kanda's shoulder.

"I found him on the way out," Kanda said, rolling his eyes.

"Eliade," Krory moaned.

"He talked!"

"Were you always an idiot, or did you take classes?" Kanda wondered, looking oddly serious.

"Yuu-chan! That's mean!"

"Don't call me that, idiot!"

"But Yuu!"

* * *

Tyki exhaled smoke, extracting his cigarette from his mouth. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, directing the question to Allen.

"Positive," he replied, distracted as he watched the exorcists on the screen that had popped up.

"You _really _don't care about them searching the entire Ark?" Tyki said incredulously.

"I _really _don't," Allen frowned.

"Are you completely positive you want to let them leave alive?" Tyki said, eyebrows creasing.

"He knows what he's doing, Tyki," Road said, rolling her eyes. "You sound as if he's lost his mind or something."

"I think he _has_," the Portuguese man shrugged. "I'm scared to know what his twisted little mind is plotting."

Allen turned away from the screen, looking offended. "I do _not_ have a twisted mind!"

"Sure," Tyki drawled. "What ever helps you sleep at night."

"You're so mean!" he exclaimed, pouting. "And anyway, the Earl gave e the a-okay!"

Road snickered. "A-okay?" she smirked.

"Ugh, you guys are so rude." Allen frowned, looking over at the projection on the wall. "Looks like they're done. I bet that Science Department will take forever to open a Gate, so I'll do the honors."

He walked over to the piano, standing over it so his shadow leaned over the keys. He tapped a few keys, the sound vibrating throughout the room. A flash of white cracked through the air, appearing directly in front of Lavi, who, as always, was not looking where he was going, fell right in to it. Allen smirked.

The exorcists all stopped dead, staring at the Gate. Allen laughed, making it echo out in the Ark. "There's your way out. I keep my word, so if you would go right ahead through that Gate, you will find all your Black Order buddies all happy and dandy."

Chaoji stared suspiciously at it. "How do we know he's not lying?"

Lenalee thought it out for a minute, brows creased from habit. "Why would he lie?" she finally said, shrugging. "He could have hurt us at any time, but he didn't. Why would he go against his word now?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I guess," he said reluctantly. Lenalee gave him an encouraging smile (God knows why, it's not like he deserves it or anything), and stepped in to the light, washing away her features. She vanished from their view, and Chaoji still looked uncomfortable as Cross and Kanda looked expectantly at him.

"Hurry up," Kanda growled, grabbing the scruff of Choaji's shirt, pushing him in (I think I love you right now, Kanda), despite his yelps of protest.

Kanda ducked through the Gate, sending one last warning glare at Cross, who waved it off. "I'll see you in a minute, she-man," he smirked. "Did you think I'd figure out some way to run off or something?"

Kanda bristled, giving him a murderous look that obviously said that he would get him later. Cross just grinned cheekily at him, and Kanda pushed his head in the door way.

Cross paused with his foot halfway through the Gate. "See you later, brat," he barked out behind him, lifting up a hand dismissively.

"See you, Cross," Allen said, rolling his eyes and closing the entrance behind him.

* * *

Komui felt a pit of dread forming inside his stomach. "Allen was with the Earl all along?" he asked, desperately wishing he were hearing wrong and his younger sister would correct him.

Against his prayers, however, Lenalee nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, yes. It seems that he's been spying on us. That means that he could be telling the Earl everything that's happened so far right now." She glanced over at Lavi and the others, who were laughing, although they didn't seem that happy. The news of Allen had spread quickly throughout the soldiers, and it wasn't exactly met with cheerful responses.

"This might just be a problem," Komui sighed.

* * *

Lulubell was having the best day of her life.

Why was she having the best day of her life, _ever, _you ask?

It was because she was watching Tyki Mikk, the wonderful Lord Tyki Mikk, massage the Earl. His expressions were those of pure horror, causing another round of laughter to shake her body.

And when the brattiest kid in the world was shown cleaning the grossest room ever known to man, her face when she scooped up the dog poop was priceless. Lulubell would have paid to see it again.

The scene where she was torturing the Jasdevi twins with make-overs, well, it certainly wasn't any less funny just because she had been there. In fact, it made it even funnier in her mind.

She hadn't laughed in years. Actually, she didn't think she could remember the last time she laughed even if she tried her hardest. So how had a fifteen-year-old boy manage to make her laugh so hard that it hurt in just a few hours? Now that she thought about it, it had only been about an hour.

Maybe the kid wouldn't be so bad, she mused inside her head. Maybe he would actually be good for the family, instead of the other way around. Her eyes strayed over to Sheryl, who was grinning. Road was pouting, and Tyki looked as if he were dreading something. The Jasdevi twins were twitching in their seats, embarrassed. The Earl was grinning so hard that it kind of hurt to look at him. And the master mind behind it all was sitting smugly in his seat, fingers intertwined as he looked upon the wonderful things that were playing out in front of him.

And then the scene changed to the White Ark, in the dining room. Tears were brought to her eyes as she watched the red-haired exorcist plant his lips on Tyki's, ensuring a French kiss in action.

Oh, yes, she needed to mark this one in her calender.

* * *

**So the hospital has just played some little symphony thing, and that signals that a baby has been born. I JUST SAW HIS PICTURE! It was texted to Hannah, my aunt, and any second we're going to go in the room. :D**

**I totally called holding him third, after Bec and Dad. Btw.**

**Anyway, LOVE Y'ALL~BYEEEEE!**


	18. Days Of Sorrow

**Yes, yes, I know you all want to kill me right now. What is my excuse of not updating? I was lazy. XP**

**I also dreamed about the last chapter the other night ago. You guys are going to hate me so much, because I am definitely using it.**

**Guest: Le gasp! You is right! I fixed it, so no worries. I was being stupid that day. XD**

**99DenmonChick99: Oh yes, I hate Chaoji with a fiery passion. The only reason I don't want him dead is for when he meets Allen again and fights him (cuz he was idiotic and said that) and gets his sorry butt kicked. So yeah. I feel the need to add those little comments in there. XD And thank you!**

**Anywhos. I just wrote a new story called Once Upon A Time, so maybe you could check it out and review maybeee...? *hinthint***

**Spoilers from chapter 215, btw. ;D**

**Dedicated to my dog Abby cuz I'm running out of people to dedicate this to.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own D. Gray Man. Probably never will either.**

* * *

Komui looked over at his crestfallen scientists, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness at the loss they had received. Even if Allen Walker had only been there for a few short days, it didn't change the fact that he had somehow managed to squirm himself into their hearts. It was as if he had this aura around him that drew others to him; with his kind voice and soft eyes, one would have never guessed that the boy had been with the man who was out to destroy mankind. It just didn't make sense.

He smiled at his darling sister came in the room, although her cheery self had diminished ever so slightly. If one looked closely, they would be able to see the red and puffiness around her eyes and the way she hunched down a bit. Komui could almost feel his heart shatter when she offered everyone a coffee with forced cheerfulness.

She came over to him, handing him his steaming cup with a bright smile.

"Oh, and Lenalee," Komui said as his younger sister turned around. She turned slightly, looking questioningly at him. "Leverrier is making us all go to a meeting regarding Cross and..." here he hesitated, eyes flickering down to avoid hers. "Walker tomorrow morning, so you won't have to bring me any coffee."

If Lenalee felt any worse than she had a moment ago, she was hiding it very well. "Okay, Nii-san," she smiled warmly. "I'll see you later, all right?"

Komui watched her walk out of the room with sad eyes.

As Lenalee closed the door behind her, the smile that was plastered on her face disappeared, a hand over her racing heart.

She knew that she was overreacting, but just hearing Allen's name hurt her head and heart. She repeatedly refused to acknowledge that he was sided with the Earl, going so far to think that this was a dream, a nightmare that she would wake up from any second now.

But as the minutes and days passed by, the cold reality was slowly seeping in her mind that there was no escaping the horrible nightmare she had been pulled in to.

-8o8-

Allen's head was resting inside his head, curled up on the piano bench, inside the room of the Fourteenth. In the end, they had decided to keep the rest of the White Ark, due to Allen's new found control of it. Before, they hadn't been able to move the Ark around as much because Allen hadn't been fully awakened, so they didn't know how large the extent of usefulness it was until now.

Allen had been coming to the room more and more often up until the point of where someone had to come and get him. This had started happening when Timcanpy had projected the Musician's Score, which Allen had recognized immediately.

The boy hummed softly, lifting his head slightly to look at his golem, which he had grown very close to these past few weeks. "Tim..." he started, looking at the mirror in which the Shadow of the Fourteenth was grinning at him. The golden golem paused in his fluttering, making him dip down a tad in the air. "Do you think I'm choosing my own path?"

The golem responded in his own way by nuzzling in to his white locks reassuringly.

Sighing, Allen leaned backwards so that his back rested against the black and white piano. He pulled Timcanpy out of his hair, looking at him expectantly. Timcanpy flapped out of his grasp, hovering in the air in front of the white-haired boy. Opening his mouth, he let the score project above his little body.

His hand hesitantly reached out to it, tracing the markings carefully. His body shivered, eyes never straying from the hologram-ish score. Lips pulled down in a frown, he could feel the tears that threatened to fall.

"I don't understand," he moaned, pulling away from the image.

Memories whirled around in his head, making his hands clench together a bit too hard, nail biting in to his hand, a ruby drop of blood splashing against the clean white floor.

It was as if he couldn't avoid it, and they came washing over him, images flashing in his mind.

-8o8-

_"Is he dead?" a voice asked after a while, nudging the limp body of the dog with a foot._

_"Yes," the clown confirmed. "He's dead."_

_There was silence again as the boy crouched down next to the dog. "He's got bruises all over his body," he noted._

_"So do you," the other chuckled. "Did Cosimo beat you up? _

_The boy with reddish-brown hair gave him a sharp glare, and instead of answering his question, changed the subject. "Aren't you sad? He was with you for a long time, right?"_

_"So sad I could die," he said, pretending to be hung up on a tree._

_"Shut up! I hate clowns."_

_"And I hate children and crowds who don't laugh," the middle-aged man replied._

_Silence reigned over them again before the clown spoke again. _

-8o8-

_"Besides, I don't think I could cry if I wanted to."_

-8o8-

_"I don't know why." _

-8o8-

_"It seems as if my tears just won't come."_

_Silver-grey eyes looked at him calculatingly, and the boy seemed taken aback. _

-8o8-

_"Don't you have friends?" The older one said, changing the subject as easily as the boy did._

_"I don't need friends," he shot back. "When I grow up, I'll be really strong, so I won't need to rely on anyone."_

_His gaze swept back to the dead dog, and before he knew what was happening, traitorous tears were trailing down his dirty cheeks._

_"He licked my hand yesterday," he said quietly. "My deformed one." _

-8o8-

_"I don't even like dogs." _

-8o8-

_"So why am I the one who's crying?"_

_And the clown looked over at the boy, watching as his tears splattered on the ground, the liquid mixing with the dirt. _

_"I see."_

_He gazed the colorful ball, eyeing it thoughtfully. _

_"You were his friend, too."_

-8o8-

_"You want me to do what?" the boy, Red, said disbelievingly, looking up at the old geezer._

_"I wanted you to help bury Allen," Mana Walker said patiently, that maddening smile on his face._

_"Why should I do that?" Red snapped, glaring at him, arms crossed._

_Mana just raised his eyebrows, and Red sighed._

_"Whatever, where's the stupid shovel?" he grumbled, walking past the clown and pretending not to notice the wide grin on the other's face. _

-8o8-

_Mana placed the red ball with the star on the newly made grave, backing up to examine the work they had done. _

_Red scowled, dropping the shovel and kicking it away from him. "This is stupid. Why would anyone have a funeral for a dumb dog?"_

_He shrugged, looking over at where the ball marked the bump in the ground. "Allen was very loyal to me. So why shouldn't I be loyal to him?"_

_"You're a nutter," Red told him, frowning._

_Mana laughed. "And you're just a grumpy little kid who just needs a bit of love in his life," he cooed, enveloping him in a hug._

_"Umph! Let go of me, you old grandpa!" _

_"Aw, you look so cute when you pout~"_

_"I'm not pouting! Stupid crazed clown!" _

-8o8-

_Mana smiled as he wrote another letter in the snow, looking at his adopted son with fondness._

_"What about this one?"_

_"Hmm..." the little boy, who had been renamed as Allen, frowned thoughtfully. "Ah! I know!" He traced the symbol in the snow with his stick carefully. _

_He clapped his hands. "We're done, Mana!"_

_Mana's smile widened as he looked over all the symbols and letters knowingly. He now knew that this was the one who had offered his younger brother to become his host. The one who would someday bring back his dear brother. And while he had wished that this would happen so many times, he had started to wish that his little boy would be able to enjoy life as much as possible somehow._

_What Mana didn't understand was how a person who had disappeared over three decades ago had managed to turn back time and go from a man in his twenties to a boy who had not even reached nine. _

-8o8-

_"Allen, watch out!"_

_A hand pushed him forward, making him stumble and fall safely, if not with skinned hands and knees._

_"I'm sorry, Mana!" the boy said, turning around, only to freeze in place with dread. _

_"Mana...?"_

_A carriage turned over, a bleeding man in the street, a crying child holding his hand. _

_"Don't die, Mana! I'm sorry! Please don't die!"_

_"You can't die!"_

_"Don't leave me alone!"_

_Tears splashed on Mana's chest, soaking his shirt. _

_"I'm sorry..."_

_"I'm so sorry..."_

_The other squeezed his hand weakly._

_"Allen."_

_"Remember what I always said?"_

_"Keep on walking."_

_"Never stop, okay?"_

_Allen nodded, giving the man one last smile before his world was washed in black._

_The smile stayed place, tears falling, before it slowly turned to a choked sob._

_"Mana!" _

-8o8-

Allen wiped his tears away as he stood up sharply, exiting the White Ark with Timcanpy hurriedly following him into the Black one, apparently wanting to get as far away from the room as possible for the moment.

He entered the dining hall, expecting to see everyone seated at the table and probably throwing food at each other, like always.

So Allen was very suspicious when it was oddly quiet and there were no visible Noah in sight.

Keyword, visible.

He looked over the room, frowning slightly before a smirk stretched over his lips.

He took a step to the right, narrowly missing the glop of mud passing his face.

Allen grinned as he dodged another throw, the action repeating until he had to flip backwards onto the dinner table, sending food flying.

Road came in to view, cackling. "Just give it up, Tyki, your revenge failed!"

"Dang," Tyki sighed, coming out. "How'd you know?" he frowned at the still smirking Noah of Destruction.

Allen shrugged. "I know these things," he said evasively.

The twins gave each other high fives as they walked out of the shadows, promptly turning to Tyki and holding out their hands expectantly.

"That's twenty dollars, I believe," Devit grinned.

"Twenty, hee!" Jasdero agreed.

Allen raised his eyebrows at the Portuguese man. "Really? You bribed everyone to hide just so you could throw mud at me?"

"Yes, he did," Lulubell informed him, taking a seat the table and picking up an apple that had survived when Allen jumped on it.

"That's sad, Tyki," Allen shook his head in mock disappointment. "I thought you were more creative than this."

Tyki scowled, glaring at the white-haired boy. "Whatever."

"See what I mean?" he said to Road, who grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"Definitely," she smirked.

"I know I've said this time and time again," Tyki said, slowly smiling. "But I _really, really_ hate this family."

"We know you do," Devit patted his back, twirling his gun on his finger.

"And now that we know, we want our money, hee hee!" Jasdero clapped.

"Yeah, Tyki you promised me and Lulu too!" Road chimed in, making the blond Noah smirk in agreement.

_I'm moving on, Mana, _Allen thought with a smile as he watched his family bicker. _I won't ever stop walking. _

* * *

**Another chapter done, it seems. I made this chapter seem kinda dark, though. Anyone else think so too?**

**I knoooow that I got some wrong parts with the memories and junk, but I can't remember anything for the life of me. **

**Has anyone else got that moment where you can't think of anything and you type, "huehfuhfuh" for a while before backspacing it? I did that a lot in this chapter.**

**And I just wanted to ask again if you would go check out my new story, Once Upon A Time, and maybe review it or whatever if you liked it. If not, lie and review anyway. XDDD**

**Review, maybe?**


	19. How Strange Life Is

**Well, after a month or so of hiding and receiving several PMs to hurry the heck up and update already, I finally moved my lazy butt and set to work. And yes, I know all of you are thinking, "What happened to the days where she would update _every day?_" Well, the answer is that those days are over. School has started, making me utterly miserable.**

**I ain't gonna bother with replying today. So yeah. Get over it. It's been too long. **

**I'll have an omake at the bottom, so look for it. ^^**

**...Also. I just read the new chapter of D. Gray Man. And WTF, man? 17 pages, pfft, those evil, evil people. And cliffhangers. WHY?!**

**Disclaimer: Even though I'm updating like Hoshino, it dosen't mean that I own D. Gray Man. **

* * *

Allen gazed, bored, out in some far away Allen-world, hand propping up his chin.

Road, who was sitting right next to him, didn't seem to like the fact that the wall was getting more attention than her. So of course she had to fix that little fact.

When she suddenly wrapped her arms around the daydreaming Allen, to say the boy was shocked was an understatement. He blinked in surprise as Road's breath tickled his ear, giving him a sudden urge to itch it. He twitched when he realized that he was unable to do this since Road was stopping any movement concerning his arms, seeing as she was hugging them very tightly.

"Allen," she purred in a Tyki-like way, causing Allen to shiver. "Why don't you come play with me?"

Allen craned his head slightly to attempt to look Road in the eye. "What do you want to play?" he asked warily, eyeing her the best he could without dislocating his neck.

She smirked. "The British People Game!" she declared, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up so that he was sitting up straight instead of being crouched over from the weight Road had placed on him.

"'The British People Game?'" Allen raised his eyebrows. "What do you do in this so-called game of yours?"

Road grinned, gleeful that Allen was actually playing along with her this time. "It's simple," she said. "We just have to act like proper British people for the day."

The white-haired boy's eyebrows twitched. "But I am British."

Road grinned wolfishly, a spark in her violet eyes. "I mean that we have to act all proper and manner-y and stuff. And you have to escort me all day because the British are gentlemen."

Allen felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and knew that this would turn out as a rather embarrassing day for him.

Call it intuition, but he had a knack for sensing these kinds of things. Unfortunately.

-8o8-

Timothy didn't really know what to think of his new home. He had an air of arrogance and confidence that he would likely never let go of, but he hid his uncertainty well enough. His eyes swept through his new room, frowning slightly before it curved in to a small smile.

He was an exorcist. While he knew he had a limited amount of power from when he was the Thief G, being able to take over other people's bodies and all, but when he had been told that he was an actual _exorcist _- well, it was quite a shock to put it simply.

And even though he had to leave everything he had ever known, he felt as if really belonged now.

As he was given a tour of the Black Order, he couldn't help but wonder who the heck this Allen was. Everywhere he went, he saw people whispering to each other, and when he strained his ears to listen in, he always caught the same name in their conversations.

Allen. Allen Walker.

The reason he had not been able to scrap up much information about him was because every time he tried to inch closer so he could hear better, the ones who had been talking immediately shut up.

Of course, he knew sooner or later someone would tell him who this guy was, especially if he was as important as he seemed to be. But, being the nine-year-old he was, he wasn't a very patient boy. And so he needed to fix this problem and find out just who this Allen Walker was.

-8o8-

Allen glared at the reflection in the mirror of himself, eyes flickering to Road for a second when she latched herself to his arm.

The petite girl was wearing a pink and purple dress that had a sort of innocence that certainly would not have fit together with Road if one knew her sadistic tendencies. However, she did look quite pretty, and even Allen had to admit she looked cute, therefore making the other smug for the rest of the day.

Apparently Allen had decided to break the silence. "Why didn't anyone tell me there was a ball tonight?"

Road rolled her eyes, adjusting her head band on her surprisingly not-so-spiky hair. "I just did, silly."

Allen scowled, frowning at the image of him in a white suit that stared back at him through the mirror. "I meant, why did you only tell this to me now, when it's starting in _thirty minutes?" _

"Because I knew the only way to get you in a tuxedo was to make you think we were playing a game or winning a bet, and since the latter is pretty much impossible, I went for the game thing."

The scowl on Allen's face became more pronounced as he set his glare away from the mirror to Road. That, and he didn't want to see the Shadow of the Fourteenth snickering behind him. Really, lately he had begun to react and make movements to show what he thought of the matter, and it was definitely getting on his nerves.

"Well, don't you look handsome," a voice drawled, footsteps audible against the floor.

Allen didn't even bat an eyelash. "Not a word, Tyki," he deadpanned. "Not a word."

"Aw, Shounen, stop pouting," Tyki grinned, meandering through the mess of dolls in Road's room. "This is the first time you're going to a ball, so be a bit more happy, will you?"

"I don't even _want _to go," the boy whined, giving the other puppy dog eyes, much to the amusement of Road. No one could resist Allen's puppy dog look, except for Road. Tyki quickly looked away, chanting under his breath, "Don't look, don't look, don't look..."

Allen snickered, watching as Tyki went so far as to stuff his head in a doll.

"Tyki! Don't put your filthy face in Mr. Pumpledink's clothes!" Road cried, distraught at the treatment her dolls were receiving.

Tyki shot her an accusing glare. "You care more about a replaceable doll than your own uncle's dignity, which could take several years to restore seeing as it's Allen who's probably going to take it away?"

"Of course," was the reply before the girl snatched back her little doll. "Are you alright, Mr. Pumpledink? The bad man didn't rip your pretty bonnet, did he?" This particular statement earned a snicker from our favorite white-haired boy. He patted Tyki's arm in a mockingly pitying way. "Poor, poor Tyki," he started out dramatically."Always being the least favorite in the family. Last chosen for water balloon fights, too. Although I would think that someone would want to get you on their team as fast as possible..." Tyki looked unconvinced, and with good reason. "...seeing as it would be a quicker way to get that horrible stench from so long on the streets."

Road grinned, then dragged her assumed boyfriend out of the room, Tyki following with a deadpan look of expectancy on his face.

"Hmm..." Road said devilishly, glancing at a clock that was on a wall they were passing by. "We still have twenty minutes before the ball starts. Let's go have some fun!"

Both Tyki and Allen sighed at the same time. Of course, it was only to be expected that Road would need something to entertain her at all times. It didn't matter that they needed to be presentable and precisely on time.

Well, that was Road for you.

-8o8-

Running footsteps echoed against the tiles of the Black Order, red alarms blazing through the hallways. Timothy, who had no on earthly idea what was going on, ran through the crowd, searching for a familiar face. Relief washed over him as he spotted Lenalee, and he rushed toward her with surprising speed in a moment of adrenaline.

"Lenalee!" he called, waving his hands in the air to catch her attention. "Lenalee, over here!" Finally Lenalee's eyes connected with him as she noticed him, and she pushed through the scrambling people to meet up with him. As he opened his mouth to say something, she motioned for him to follow her out into a secluded hall.

"What's going on?" Timothy panted, the moment catching up with him as an aching entered his legs and feet.

"Apparently two Noahs have entered the building," Lenalee explained, and through there was fury in her eyes, t all Timothy could have sworn he saw hint of hope in her eyes. What was that all about? Timothy gave her a penetrating look.

She seemed to not have noticed. "All the exorcists are to report to where they are, and since you haven't got your golem yet, I'll take you there. But you need to promise me that you will only fight if necessary," Lenalee stated, a look of seriousness passing over her face.

"A Noah?" Timothy said excitedly, looking up at the other exorcist. "I'll get to see _two _of them up close?" Obviously, the young boy knew what a Noah was, and certainly knew the extraordinary powers one of them had, but that didn't stop the childish fantasies of defeating the all-powerful enemies and being the hero the day. Unfortunately, this seemed very unlikely due to the lack of training he had received compared to the other few exorcists that scattered here and there in the Black Order.

Lenalee gave him a hard look. "This isn't some game," she said. "Noahs are ruthless creatures that won't hesitate to kill you. Understand? I was all against bringing you along, but the Higher-Ups insisted that you needed to see a full-fledged fight to prepare you for the future." A scowl appeared on her face, showing how much she resented this particular new demand.

Timothy nodded eagerly, saluting her for extra measure. "Yes'm," he said, standing up straight like a soldier. "I swear that I won't interfere."

Lenalee breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"On one condition," Timothy interjected, acting as if there was a screeching alarm singing in their ears.

"I want you to tell me who the heck this Allen Walker is."

-8o8-

Allen was sitting on Lero, dressed like the gentleman he was. Cool grey eyes smirked down at the panicking people below. Road sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

As the room finally cleared out, the only figures remaining were his old comrades, the exorcists. He grinned at them, waving jovially. He stood up on the handle of the umbrella, putting one foot out and falling down the thirty feet fall, white dress shoes landing with a _clack! _

Kanda's eyes narrowed, raising his beloved Mugen up slightly. "What are you doing here, beansprout?"

A grin grew on his face, eyes singling in on a certain Timothy Hearst. "New meat?" he questioned, then waved it off, stepping forward and seemingly transporting to directly in front of the younger boy. The other squeaked, taking a step back with wide eyes. Lenalee, whom was now a feet away from him, narrowed her eyes in malice and sorrow. What had happened to the kind-hearted Allen Walker they had all once known?

Lenalee had to repeated promise Timothy that yes, she would tell him who Allen was once this whole attack thing was over. While there was a high chance of Allen being one of the ones to come here, it still made her heart ache to see him in the place where he was once considered an ally.

Timothy stared at the majestic person in front of him, gaping. He was sort of like a cat, Timothy realized dimly in the back of his head. One of those big white tigers, and right now he was more of kind of radiating this "adore me" aura instead of the deadly one he had a imagined a Noah to have. But he knew that it was only a certain amount of time before he unsheathed his claws and attacked.

He stared, dumbstruck, at the gloved hand that held itself to him, the other crouched down with a smile on his face and his eyes closed.

"It's very nice to meet you, little exorcist."

"Allen Walker, at your service."

**-8o8-**

_Omake_

"The British People Game?" Allen queried, eyebrows quirked.

"Yes!" Road said cheerfully. "And if you don't play with me, I'll defenestrate you!"

Allen stared at her for a long minute. "What, pray tell, in the bloody eyes of the Lord does defenestrate mean?"

"It means to throw out the window, dummy," Road said, rolling her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and that everyone used such long words every day. "I learned it in my Language Arts class."

"Alrightly then. What do I do in order not to be defenestrated?" he said, looking slightly incredulous.

"Easy!" She turned around, somehow producing a plate of cookies and tea. "Now, we talk like this," Road said, voice dropping into a bad imitation of a British accent.

Allen just stared at her. And then he stood up, knocking his chair back. "I'm not playing this game."

And the next thing he knew, he was clinging to the windowsill with glass scattered in his hair and arms, scratches already starting to heal. Allen sighed in exasperation. "Fine! I'll play! Just help me _up_!"

There were giggles coming in from the room above him. "Yay! Thank you, Allen!"

"I'm beginning to realize why Tyki hates this family so much," Allen stated blandly.

* * *

**And I'm beginning to miss my inbox full of alerts. So, please, be a dear and review, for sure it will make me update faster.**

**That there was my first ever omake, and I put it there because I think a few of y'all might've wanted to see at least part of the game. x3**

**And now I gotta scurry of to bed and get up to go to school in the morning. Reviews would help me through the day. So, review!**


	20. First Impressions

**Truly sorry, my dears, truly sorry indeed. I have been so busy with life lately that I have not been able to update. I blame school. **

**Is anyone else seriously annoyed at Hoshino for skipping the updates? :| Not cool, man. Only fanfic writers are allowed to do that.**

**Disclaimer: Hoshino has all rights to D. Gray Man, unlike me (unfortunately).**

* * *

"My name is Allen Walker."

Timothy gaped at the boy, staring at him in complete shock. Then, he frowned. "Wait, so all that fuss was about one Noah?" he asked, a confused look flashing his face.

Allen blinked slowly. "Noah?" he laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," the younger boy drawled. "Didn't the alarm just say two Noahs had intruded? One, two." He pointed at the weird girl, who rolled her eyes.

"You must be talking about Tyki," she said, and as if by command, a man dressed up in a top hat and a fine suit entered the picture, sighing as if this were some chore he had to do.

"We have fifteen minutes, Road," the man, Tyki, said, frowning at the girl. "I have a feeling the Earl will be mad at us when we get back."

"He'll never know," Allen said, giving him a look that said 'don't-tell-on-us-or-I-won't-forgive-you.'

He just rolled his eyes again, leaning lazily on the wall. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Allen smirked, standing up from his crouching position. Then, a puzzled look crossed his face as he turned back toward Road. "What can we do for fifteen minutes without ruining our clothes?"

Even Road looked stumped at this. "Ehh...Tyki, what do you think?"

The exorcists openly gaped at the baffling show, looking confused.

"What?" Tyki scowled. "You two are the masterminds, why are you looking at me?"

Timothy, who did not take being ignored for any amount of time very good, crossed his arms and glared at the back of Allen's head. Allen, being able to be creepy and always know when someone was openly staring at him, flicked his eyes back at Timothy. "Ah, the new one. What's wrong with you?"

"Why does everyone keep _talking _about you?" he scowled, even more so at the look of pure amusement and joy at the news that he was being acknowledged at his enemy's headquarters.

"You talk about me?" Allen asked, smirking at Lenalee and Kanda, the latter who in turn let go of quite a few colorful words.

Lenalee, however, frowned distastefully. "How could we not? After all, you turned out to be an exorcist siding with the Millennium Earl."

Timothy stared at Allen now, mouth agape. "What?!" he practically screeched.

"Yes, yes, I am quite the horrible person, I know." Allen looked more amused than anything at the reaction of the brown-haired boy.

Road still looked like she was thinking hard about what they should do with their remaining time. "Hmm," she said, eyebrows creased in thought.

"I say we play a game!" Allen said suddenly, grinning at Tyki and Road. "Like, hide and seek or something. It's be fun!"

"Hide and seek?" Tyki raised his eyebrows.

Tyki's reluctance was replaced with Road's eagerness, however. "Tyki~ Come on, we haven't played that game in forever!"

The man shivered slightly, looking even more reluctant. "The last time we played, I almost _died,_" he said firmly. "I am _not _playing."

"You are so exaggerating, Tyki," Road said, shaking her head. "Really, it'd take a lot more than something as simple as that to kill you."

"That's only because you weren't on the other side of all those dolls," he scowled. "You have an unfair advantage."

"But, but this time we'll be the seekers," Road pointed out, rolling her eyes. "Us against the exorcists, duh."

Lavi decided to interrupt at this moment, as all of the other exorcists - as well as the scientists, Finders, and anyone else who had a sane mind- seemed to be flabbergasted at what to do in a situation such as this one.

"I don't think any of us ever accepted to play hide and seek with you, so I really don't know why you're acting as if we'll participate."

Road looked at him, and suddenly Lavi felt scared. Maybe it was the sudden way the female Noah's eyes flashed gold, or the way her lips twisted in a cruel smirk, but he took a step backwards.

Allen decided to laugh at the exchange that had happened. "Road takes her games very seriously," he grinned in a knowing way. "Last time I disagreed to play a game, she threw me out the window."

"The window?" Timothy stared at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." Allen nodded importantly.

"So I guess we'll have to play this godforsaken game," Kanda sighed, looking unimpressed. "Figures. Beansprout always does like to pull us into messes like this."

Allen looked at him innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It can't be that bad," Lenalee said, glaring at Allen still. "It's just hide and seek."

Chaoji seemed speechless. "We're going to do what they say?" he demanded.

"It seems so," Krory said, although he too was pretty confused at the way things had turned. After all, by now they would usually be trying to blow each other up, and now they were playing games designed for small children.

"Of course it is. Now here are the rules!" Road said cheerfully.

"There are rules in hide and seek?" Lenalee asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"In my version there is!"

"Figures," Allen sighed.

"Rule number one! The only ones who are allowed to participate are exorcists and Noah. So that means none of your little friends can help you."

As Tyki glanced over at the rest of the Black Order in the room, he could see quite obviously that they were taking Road's words to heart. No doubt they were probably going to escape to their rooms after her rules were called out to them.

"Rule number two, you can only hide on this floor."

"What?" Kanda glared. "What's up with that? Why only this floor? Why not the rest of the building?"

"Because we only have thirteen minutes left, i-di-ot," Road stuck out her tongue at him.

"...Thirteen minutes before what?" Lenalee couldn't help but to ask. What if there was a bomb waiting to explode or something? She could totally see the Noah doing that. They'd done worse, after all.

"Yeah, thirteen minutes before what?" Timothy echoed, only half-listening the conversation that was going on.

"Before we have to be at the ball," Allen sighed with something of dread.

"Yup~" Road sang, grinning. "It's a welcome party for Allen! It'll be his first ball, too."

"Ball?" Chaoji scowled. "Why would you go to a ball?"

"It's only proper," Tyki said idly, examining his fingernails and flicking off an invisible piece of dirt.

"Scum like you aren't even allowed at balls!" Chaoji continued on, barely even reacting to Tyki's words.

Allen turned to Road. "Is he that much of an idiot?"

"Probably," she replied nonchalantly. "Most of them are."

"We have human forms, you know," Tyki said, apparently deciding to ignore the two younger beings' comments.

"Okay, okay, number three!" Road interrupted, eager to play her games. "Once one of finds you, you are not allowed, under any circumstances, to help any of the other players."

Allen pulled up a chair, tired from standing up for so long. Crossing his legs, he smirked at the nervous exorcists.

"Rule four. No one can hurt Allen." Road looked pointedly at Kanda and Chaoji at this point, because even a child could tell that Kanda was just plain annoyed at every little thing Allen did, while Chaoji just hated him with a fiery passion that seemed to have no effect on the said white-haired boy. Amusingly enough, this irked Chaoji off even more. Added to the fact that the reason of his friends and Lady's deaths were the Noahs fault, and Allen had joined the Noah with no regret or guilt shown, there seemed to be a lot of hate in Chaoji Han for Allen Walker.

"Rule number 5. Don't mess up our clothes." Allen and Tyki seemed to agree full heartedly in this rule, nodding their heads importantly.

"Do clothes really matter in a situation like this?" Lenalee asked exasperatingly, tired of all the ridiculous rules and wishing they would get on with it.

All three of them, weirdly enough, stared at her like she was nuts. "Are you serious?" Allen finally managed.

"I thought it was a perfectly sensible question," Miranda piped up tentatively, feeling the sudden urge to help her fellow woman comrade's question.

As answer, they turned their disbelieving looks onto her. "I'm sorry!" she shrieked, flailing her hands hopelessly. "I know I'm an idiot and the answer is probably really obvious but I still don't understand!" she wailed.

"...Is she always like this?" Tyki asked, still not taking his eyes off the two, looking rather dismayed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Allen said, following suit to Tyki.

"...I don't understand these people." Tyki shook his head and sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. Yes, his life was just that tiresome.

"I don't really either," Allen agreed solemnly.

Road rolled her eyes at her two male companions, deciding to answer Lenalee's question anyway, even though it was, like, totally the stupidest question ever. It was obviously obvious.

"Of _course _the clothes are important," she said, looking at them as if they were all a bit dumb in the head. "If the Millennium Earl found out that we were here, we'd be dead. And we would be late for the ball if you ruined them, like if you ripped them or got blood on them or something like that."

"Woah woah woah," Lavi interjected, frowning slightly in thought. "The Earl doesn't even know you're here?"

"Um, didn't she just say that?" Allen looked at Lavi, rolling his eyes. "Really, you exorcists are all so slow sometimes. It makes me wonder how you've lasted so long."

"A-_hem,_" Road said, crossing her arms with a slight pout. "We're wasting time here."

Allen motioned for her to continue on, zipping his lips with a grin.

"Rule six, you may not move from the first hiding space you choose, and therefore cannot move around to a different place after the game has begun."

While this rule was unfortunate, what with how much easier it would be for the Noah to find them, the exorcists at least deemed it reasonable and somewhat fair. From the look Road was giving everyone, however, they refrained from commenting on it.

"Last rule. You are not allowed to use your Innocence to help you hide."

This rule came with many protests from the exorcists, much to the amusement of the others.

"You can still use your powers!" Chaoji protested loudly, although he didn't know hwy he was getting so worked up by something like this game. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to lose to a Noah, even if it was in a game or a simple rule that a Noah had given out.

"Think of it this way," Tyki said, holding up a hand to stop their voices. "Allen can't use his Innocence either, so he has no advantage over you."

Well, that seemed to make the exorcists feel better about themselves, because their arguments died down and the atmosphere of the room settled down into a nervous buzz.

"Then, let's begin!" Road grinned, her excitement almost tangible.

Even Tyki had to feel a little sorry for the unsuspecting exorcists.

"Come on, Tyki, Allen, you have to close your eyes!"

Allen rolled his own eyes before covering them with his gloved hands, Tyki following suit with an irritable sigh.

"Ten."

The exorcists seemed to realize that the game was beginning, and so they all scurried off in different directions, except Kanda, because he didn't scurry, he _strolled. _

"Nine."

Chaoji still seemed unsure as to _why on earth _they were doing this, but he went along with it anyway.

"Eight."

Road was practically bouncing as she counted off the numbers slowly, eager to start her twisted fun.

"Seven."

Timothy, still being a child, was small, and smirked to himself at his advantage.

"Six."

Lenalee huffed, rubbing her already puffy eyes as she ducked down a corridor, sniffing slightly in confusion at what was going on.

"Five."

Tyki, more than anything, seemed bored with the whole thing.

"Four."

Miranda, being the skittish yet loyal person she was, wanted to help out wit her friends, and was therefore determined to win.

"Three."

Krory frowned, hurrying his step, hoping he would make it in time to find his own space to hide.

"Two."

Lavi scowled at the small space he was in, hoping they would hurry up and find him so that he could get this thing over with.

"One."

Allen grinned through his hands, twitching in anticipation.

_"Zero."_

* * *

**AHEM. I have just realized that I haven't updated this in roughly two months, and I feel extremely guilty for that. I hope you'll forgive me. D: On the bright news, I have come up with a new idea for a story, and I find it extremely amusing that they are playing hide and seek in this chapter, for that is the name I have decided on for it. Now. I want you to go on Google right now and look up "Hide and Seek Alone." Click on the first one, the one that says "Scary Stories" and the characters next to it. I have succeeded in freaking my friends out with this, and you shall be freaked too. I promise. (I'm totally doing it. Totally totally totally. I just need stringriceandmaybecrosses.) **

**Please, be a dear and review? :)**


	21. Hide and Seek

"Hmm," the Earl said, looking at the clock with a disturbingly wide grin plastered on his face.

"Jasdero, Devit," he snapped, motioning to them from where they were, picking at their formal clothes with something of disgust.

They looked up at him in sync, inching toward him with hesitation, a bit wary of the Earl's unsettling grin.

"...Yes?" Devit said, frowning slightly.

"Go and get the others, would you?" he asked knowingly, eyes never straying from the ticking clock.

-8o8-

Lavi was pouting.

He knew that the game would end quickly, but he hadn't known that he would be the first to be found. Really, it just plain offended his role of the next Bookman.

Counting up the people who had already been found, he concluded that the only ones left in the game were Kanda and Timothy, and his fingers were crossed in some sort of anticipation. They had three minutes left in the game, and as long as they managed to stay in for at least that long, their pride would be held intact.

For now, at least.

He had already seen how stunned Chaoji had looked when he had stumbled into the room (where they were ordered to return to when they had been found), scrapes and already-forming bruises scattered on his body. He looked blankly at Lavi after sitting down before saying, "Noahs are _evil._"

Apparently his finder had been Road herself, and she had wanted to play a game involving her candles, but that about all Lavi got out of him.

Slightly bemused, he had recalled how Tyki had found him, and considered himself blessed that the man was uninterested in the whole ordeal.

-8o8-

The twins were nervous as hell when they entered the dining room in which the Earl was waiting patiently. "Well?" he asked, although the two were pretty sure that he already knew the answer.

A sheen of sweat covered their palms, and Devit laughed uneasily. "Ahh, about that..."

He trailed off, looking at his twin for support.

Maybe looking to Jasdero for support wasn't the best idea in the world, because he said it straight out without any reassurances or anything of the sort.

"We couldn't find them, hee!" he cackled, waving around a note written in a flowing handwriting. "All we could find was this note!"

The Earl exhaled slowly, that grin still on his face.

"And what, pray tell, did that note say?"

Jasdero handed him the note, trying to wipe the sweat on his hands off on his dress pants.

The Earl eyed the note in disbelief, gazing down at it.

_Dear Earl,_

_If you are reading this, it probably means that it is almost time for the ball and you sent Jasdevi to come and get Road, Tyki, and me._

_We decided that we were going to go out early to run a few errands, so please don't worry about us. We are probably not dead. Probably. _

_Lots of love, _

_Allen xxxx_

-8o8-

Meanwhile, Allen shivered slightly, goosebumps appearing on the back of his neck.

"I have the strangest feeling that someone is planning my ultimate demise."

He paused, running a gloved hand through his disheveled hair.

"Oh well."

-8o8-

Kanda scowled, crossing his arms as he stomped back to the cafeteria. Stupid little brat had found him, but it wasn't like he cared that he had lost or anything.

...On the other hand, he was entirely annoyed that a girl who looked no older than twelve had managed to cut him on the cheek with a candle.

"They found you too, Yuu?" Lavi immediately said cheerfully when he had kicked open the doors with unnecessary force.

"Don't call me by first name, idiot," Kanda's natural reaction was, sulking as he slammed his hand down on the table, taking a seat at the table. "I'll cut you into a million and little pieces and set them on fire."

"Who got you then?" Lavi continued on as if Kanda hadn't just threatened to kill him a very painful way.

"Kamelot," he grumbled, wondering if he could get a bowl of soba when they were under attack from two Noah and a rogue exorcist.

"Aha, sucks for you. Mikk found me, so it wasn't really that dramatic."

"Who's been found by beansprout, then?"

"Er, Krory and Lenalee, I think. Lenalee was a hot mess when she came here. Tears everywhere, Komui is probably trying to go and hunt Allen down right now. Not that I think it will do much good though," Lavi added thoughtfully.

"And why's that?" Kanda frowned, raising his eyebrows slightly. The betraying brat would probably be dead in a minute against Komui's rage and his Koumlin, which had most likely built in secret by Komui again.

Lavi shrugged slightly, a frown on his normally bright face.

"There's something off about him that I can't really explain, is all..."

-8o8-

Timothy scowled from where he was hiding inside a dark closet, hidden behind some boxes and lying sprawled out with a few coats on top as if they had fallen from something like something hitting the wall.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered, and then scared crapless when the closet door banged open, this time sending some coats of their hangers for real this time.

"Found you," a familiar voice jeered. Timothy squeaked, twisting around so fast that he stumbled over his own legs after his attempt to stand up from the tangle of coats wrapped around him.

Allen stared bemusedly at him, offering a hand to the put-out boy. He scowled at it instead, untangling himself from the coats and brushing off his pants.

"No way I would get help from someone like you," Timothy sneered, crossing his arms and refusing to look at him in the eye, instead occupying himself by pretending to straighten out his exorcist uniform.

"Looks like you won," Timothy said after a while, finally looking up after the long silence.

Gray eyes fixed on him, and there was something that looked like amusement.

He sighed loudly, turning around and waving his hand. "It seems," he said sadly, eyes flickering to peek behind himself. "That the time limit of this game has ended. Therefore, young exorcist, you have won the game this time."

Timothy stared at him for what seemed to be two full minutes, before he frowned distastefully. "What? You think I'm lying?" He snorted. "A gentleman would never lie like that."

Here, Timothy had decided that Allen was mentally challenged and that he had let Timothy win on purpose, but hey, he didn't really care that much. "Why?"

"Hmm?" Timothy could just hear the smile on his lips as he trudged after him.

"Why did you leave the Order and go against all your friends' trust?"

"Why, you ask?" Allen hummed thoughtfully. "That is a wonderful question. Truthfully, I have been with the Earl for years now, after I turned my foster father into an akuma."

Timothy stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Allen as he too stopped. "Akuma?"

"Yes," he said, turning slightly so that Timothy could see the graceful that the boy adorned. "After that little incident, the Earl took me in and raised me as if his own. I was kept a secret from the other members of my family, and only have met them recently, but I have watched them grow up in their own way when I was bored. I used to watch them during those times, and so I guess you could say I grew to know them in a way."

Timothy was still staring at him, unto which made Allen sigh, and reach to throw him over his shoulder, heading towards the cafeteria.

"Why are you telling me this?" Timothy said, confused.

Allen shrugged, making Timothy lurch from where he was slung over Allen's shoulder. "I don't know. Perhaps it's because you remind me of when I was a kid. Bratty, annoying, except you seem to be a much softer version." Timothy could hear the repressed snickers Allen was try not to let out, which made a frown cross his face.

"And that's a good thing, how?"

Allen didn't reply, instead resorting to let himself snicker.

-8o8-

"Allen!" A shrill voice shrieked, a flurry of blue-ish black hair colliding with the whitenette, Timothy having already hastily jumping off of his shoulder.

"..." Allen sighed. "Road. We have been apart for less than ten minutes. You do not need to react so greatly just because I walk through the doors."

Road stuck out her tongue at him, and then frowned. "We lost."

Allen nodded.

"We _lost._"

"...yes, Road, we lost."

"...We _lost._"

"Road, no matter how many times you say it, it isn't going to change the fact that we lost this ridiculous game of hide and seek that we forced our sworn enemies to play, barely harming them in the process," Allen said.

Then, he blinked.

"Wow. That sentence sounded...pretty messed up. Did we really just play _hide and seek_ with exorcists?"

Before Road could throw a long and furious rant about how she _did not_ lose games, especially ones that she created, the sound of gun shots rang out around the room.

"You...you evil _devil spawn_!" A very familiar voice cried with a voice full of relish.

"You're gonna be in trouble! Hee hee!" A second voiced howled in malice.

The two looked blankly at a pair of furious twins.

"Devit?"Allen asked, looking very confused. "Jasdero?" _Did they just call me devil spawn?__  
_

"Well." Road drawled. "I have a feeling that the Earl found the note you left, Allen."

Tyki, whom had been eyeing the exorcists carefully (especially that Chaoji guy - he seemed like a very suspicious character. Like, like a puppy molester. Yeah. A puppy molester), glanced at his favorite(?) teenager.

"Speaking of which," he said, blowing out smoke from his cigarette. "What was on that note of yours? We didn't really have enough time to read it."

The twins looked at him. "It was short, pointless, and not at all reassuring," Devit said scowling. "Hee!" Jasdero agreed.

"Al-_len_," Road pouted.

"Sorry?"

"Lying is bad, Shounen. We all know that you're not sorry."

"Shut up, Tyki."

-8o8-

"What...just happened?" Timothy said, not even bothering to try and be surprised at the scene which had just happened before their very eyes.

"Allen and the Noah just gave us ten dollars and paper airplane with a note on it," Lavi said cheerfully, unfolding the note.

"And...and what does the note say?" Lenalee said faintly, staring at the paper in mild shock.

Lavi cleared his throat and read out,

_"Dear exorcists,_

_The ten dollars was for winning the game. Road and I had made a bet on whom would win, and I won. Road borrowed the money from Tyki, and he wishes for me to tell you that you better enjoy those ten dollars, because it took a lot of effort to unlatch his fingers from it._

_In other news, today was more fun than I had expected it to be, so congratulations. You get to live another day._

_Unless you get a sudden and deadly disease that enables itself in the next twenty-four hours and your body is unable to work correctly, along with the pressure and insanity of watching your comrades die every day and you eventually become so overwhelmed with the stress that your heart is unable to take it and you have a heart attack._

_Just so you know, this is my conclusion on what will happen to one of you lot. Because that is totally possible._

_Maybe._

_Anyway, I must get going, so I have to say that I cannot wait to cross paths with you again._

_Love, Allen xxxx_

_P.S. Road says that it isn't fair that we should give you money because she also has to give me twenty dollars too. That is all."_

-8o8-

"Well?" The Earl said, having decided that being fashionably late to the ball was better than being on time.

"Sorry?"

"Allen," Tyki said, shaking his head sadly. "You need to be a better role model. Lying is not good for you."

"Tyki, you are the most hypocritical person I know. Do not even try to tell me to better be a better role model."

Allen frowned slightly.

"Besides, who would I be a role model _to_? Our family is too messed up to try to be thinking of any good intentions."

"This is a good point," Tyki admitted.

"Children, please kindly shut up," the Earl said, smiling creepily. "I am in quite the foul mood at the moment."

"Road," he smiled peacefully, which was totally not peaceful at all. "You are banned from playing with your dolls for the rest of the week. No sweets."

Tyki smirked. "That's what you get, Road," he teased, grinning at the horror-stricken girl. He reached for his cigarettes in his shirt pocket, patting it down.

Then stopped.

The grin on his face vanished.

Slowly, he turned to face the Earl with a pained smile on his lips. "Earl?" he twitched. "Where are my cigarettes?"

The Earl's grin widened further. "You needed to cut back on those lung-killing things any way, Tyki-pon."

At this point, Allen was laughing madly, pointing at the two with glee.

"Oh, and Allen," the Earl said in a sing song voice. The boy froze. "No piano."

He looked at the Earl in shock and utter horror. "What?"

"And no sneaking out in the middle of the night with Tyki to go gambling."

_"__What?!" _

"You're evil, Earl, you know?" Tyki moaned, looking despaired.

"Aren't you the one who said you had to be evil to have fun?"

* * *

**Hehe, looks like that one backfired on you, Tyki.**

**I am very sorry about how long it took me to update. I swear up and down to God I will try to finish this by the end of summer this year. **

**Has anyone else read the new chapters in D. Gray Man? I was so excited when we got two in the same month. However...the Earl...looks...very creepy. I have had no one to discus this hilarity, and I have some to the conclusion that I need more friends who like this manga.**

**If I haven't responded to you, I am really sorry. Honest to God I will try and respond this time around. If you have any questions or corrections, feel free to tell me!**

**Oh, and about the puppy molester thing...um. That is my theory on Chaoji. The end.**

**Please take a little time to drop a review down below. :)**


	22. Pennies

Tyki Mikk sighed for what seemed like the millionth time, longingly looking at his wallet, which was considerably more lighter than it had been a day earlier. He also had the suspicion, no, certainty that Road was never going to pay him back those thirty dollars she had "borrowed."

"Tyki, would you stop sighing? Jesus Christ, it's getting on my nerves," Allen snapped, looking irritable.

"You seem to be in quite the mood today," Tyki mused, raising his eyebrows at the boy, but without his usual spark.

"Obviously not."

"Care to talk about it?" Tyki patted the seat to him.

"Not with you." Ouch.

"That was uncalled for."

"Well, excuse me if I'm a bit miffed that someone slipped to the Earl that you took me gambling."

"It wasn't me!" Tyki said, insistent. "I swear!"

"The Earl said otherwise." Allen sipped at his tea, and Tyki had the sudden urge to throw the steaming liquid in the Earl's face at that moment.

"He's lying," Tyki said flatly.

"The Earl doesn't lie to me."

"Well, he does now."

"I'm calling bull on that."

"Think what you'd like," Tyki said, wondering why Allen was so grumpy today of all days.

There was something important that was supposed to happen today, but he couldn't seem to recall what it was. Perhaps it had something to do with Allen's moodiness? Scratch that, it had to be involved with it somehow.

"You seem to be in deep thought," Allen stated blandly.

"Huh?" Tyki looked up.

"I could tell by the way you looked to be in pain. I guess it would be pretty hard on a guy like you to think intensely like that."

"You should really work on your temper."

"You should really work on shaving every once in awhile."

"Ah!" Tyki snapped his fingers in revelation. How could he have forgotten?

"How was your first day of school today?"

Immediately, Tyki felt the room temperature drop several degrees.

"Um, not so good?" Tyki guessed.

"It's so boring!" Allen scowled. "All you do is sit there while they write nonsense on the board! Road's not even in any of my classes!"

"It's understandable," Tyki said, nodding. "She is younger than you in appearance by two or three years."

"Still," Allen whined. "It was horrible. I will never know how humans get through seven to eight hours of school a day."

"On the bright side, you get the weekends off of school," Tyki said helpfully.

"So? You never even went to school, I bet."

"Shut up."

There was a long pause between them before Allen looked hopefully at Tyki.

"No," Tyki said immediately. "Whatever you are about to ask, the answer is no."

"Come on, you don't even know what I was going to ask!"

"Exactly. You're too unpredictable to say yes to anything."

"I find that insulting."

"I find your existence insulting."

"Ouch," Allen said.

"Hmm," Tyki hummed, turning back to the book he was reading while mourningly fingering the pocket his cigarettes used to rest. It was so cruel of the Earl to take them away when he didn't even want to participate in the activity.

"Tyki, I want to go gamble. Please?"

"No," Tyki stated easily. "The Earl forbid you, correct?"

"That only applies if I'm sneaking out with you in the middle of the night. He created that loophole himself."

"Still, I don't get my cigarettes, so you don't get to go play games." Yes, Tyki was a bit sour about the whole incident, but he didn't think he was being harsh in the slightest.

"Ehh?" Allen frowned. "Well, I was thinking of getting you some more, since the Earl didn't put a charm on me to buy you your cigarettes, but if that's how it's gonna be..."

Almost like a dog's, Tyki could feel his ears prick up. "You sneaky little brat," Tyki said with a grin. "You always manage to squeeze yourself out of everything."

"Thank you," the other said graciously.

"Now, casino, please?"

-8o8-

Ten minutes later, Allen was already laying down his first hand, suspiciously a Straight Flush, much to the dismay of the other players.

Rolling his eyes, Tyki looked at the box of cigarettes Allen had managed to get him (he really didn't want to know how a fifteen-year-old had gotten a pack of cigarettes. He really didn't), and finally, joyously, lit one.

"Tyki," Allen called from across the room, loud and clear for the rest of the occupants of the room. "Stop looking like you're about to molest your cigarettes!"

There were snorts of laughter from various areas, and he unfortunately could not place who and where they came from. So, he just gave his nastiest glare to Allen, who just grinned like a shark. "Love you too," he smirked.

Mumbling about unthankful brats, he turned to face the window in order to compose himself.

And thus proceeded to duck.

"Why are they here?" he cursed, peeking up to see not only one, but three exorcists strolling across the street like it wasn't a catastrophe of any sort. Of course, they didn't know it was a catastrophe, but still. It was.

"Oh, Allen," Tyki sang, still on the ground. "Our best friends ever are coming."

"Huh?" Allen barely looked up from his game, immersed in his own little world.

Crawling across the floor (much to the amusement of the rest of the pub, since by now they figured he was just a crazy Mexican who that hilarious albino was forced to live with), he reached Allen's table, and promptly yanked him to the ground along with him.

"What the bloody-" Allen started, clearly annoyed and startled.

"Shut up and keep your hood up," Tyki hissed, and without waiting, pulled the boy's hood up himself.

"What are you doing, you weirdo?" Allen said, just as the bell rang, on the door, announcing the arrival of others.

Eyes flickering to the door, he paused, and, realizing why Tyki was being such an idiot, he ducked under the table.

"Hey, kid," one of the men whom he had been playing with muttered, aware that something was up. "What's going on?"

"Ahaha," he laughed nervously, in a whisper. "Can you cover me?"

The others at the table raised their eyebrows, but fully understanding a man who was in deep trouble, they didn't question the request, and they all shuffled around in order to hide the fact that, yes, there were two fully grown men (well, almost fully grown for Allen) under the table they were playing poker at, and, yes, one of them was a very suspicious cigarette-molesting Mexican , the other was alright for a brat. "You owe us later, kid," one of them muttered from behind his cards.

"Of course," Allen whispered graciously.

After a few minutes, Tyki began to realize that he and Allen were extremely close, to the point where Allen was pretty much sprawled across Tyki.

"You know," Tyki said, voice just at a whisper. "I could really get used to this position."

"Shut_ up_, Tyki. The only reason I'm even in a five-meter radius of you is because there are life-threatening exorcists that will no doubt try to kill us if we showed our faces, and that there is really no space under this table."

"Touché."

-8o8-

"Why are we here again?" Lenalee sighed, looking at Lavi with exasperation and amusement.

"Because we found out that Yuu-dear has never been to a casino before!" Lavi replied cheerfully, completely oblivious to the harsh glare the Japanese man was sending his way none-too-subtly.

"I don't even want to go to a casino," Kanda grumbled, obviously in a foul mood. "I'm surprised that sister-complex even allowed Lenalee to go."

"Aren't we all?" Lavi said excitedly. "This is going to be the best day ever!"

Rolling her eyes, Lenalee pushed the door to the casino open, holding it open so Kanda and Lavi could go in first.

"Let's do poker first!" Lavi grinned.

Without waiting for his companions' consent, he dragged them to the least crowded table, which consisted of two men. "Mind if we join you?" Lavi asked, motioning to Lenalee and Kanda.

Lavi swore there was a thump from the table, but one of the men coughed loudly, so he couldn't really be sure.

"Are you okay?" Lenalee asked with a worried frown at the obvious hacking from the man.

"Just - fine," he gasped, wincing slightly.

"If you're sure," Lenalee hesitated.

Lavi made a move to sit down, but one of the men stopped him by saying, "We don't play with kids and girls."

Lavi frowned, and then smirked. "Well, why don't we prove you wrong?"

"Huh?"

"We challenge you to a game of poker. If even one of us wins, we get to stay and play with you guys. If we lose, we'll walk right out of here and you'll never see our faces in this place again. Deal?"

It was obviously a tempting offer, and they finally agreed to their terms.

-8o8-

Meanwhile, Allen was mentally cursing his luck. Of course, they just had to choose the one table that they were hiding under. The moment he had heard Lavi's voice, his head automatically whipped up, the result being that it hit the table.

Luckily, the men they had been playing with covered them with a cough (Allen was going to make sure they got a great present after they got out of this mess), and now Allen was nervously listening to the game that was going on above them.

And, well, Tyki was just being Tyki.

"Hey," Tyki whispered. "I think we should do this more often."

That bloody _pervert._

"I'd rather not," Allen responded dryly, straining his ears in order to hear what was going on in the game that assured their ability to come to this place again.

After all, they did have great food.

"Did you hear something?" a muffled voice (presumably Lavi again) said.

"How can you hear anything in this place at all?" one of their saviors replied, irritated. "It's like a zoo in this place. I can barely think straight.

"But I swore I heard..."

"Shut up," the unmistakable voice of Kanda snapped, and for once Allen blessed the man (silently).

"Maybe we should get out of here," Tyki suggested helpfully.

"I hate you," Allen said, hissing it out slowly.

"Love you too~"

-8o8-

"Hey," Road said, frowning. "Where's Allen and Tyki?"

The Earl looked up from the mittens he had been knitting (with remarkable skill, if he must say so himself), and sighed as if he had been expecting something to happen.

"Why is it always Allen?" he muttered, feeling a headache coming on. "He used to be such a cute little boy, always doing what he was told. So innocent..."

"I believe this is called the 'teenage' years," Road rolled her eyes. "Surprisingly, many humans do the same thing during this time."

"I can feel the sarcasm dripping off of you," the Earl said, snorting.

There was a moment of silence before Road said crossly, "And Allen was not innocent. I will never forget those punishments."

"I miss those days," the Earl said wistfully.

Road shot the Earl a withering look. "Of course you would, you were never of the receiving end of any of his pranks or punishments."

"Of course not," the Earl grinned. "After all, I did teach him."

"How thoughtful of you." Well, that explained why Allen could be so evil sometimes.

"Perhaps we should find Allen and Tyki," Road suggested. "Knowing them, they've probably snuck off and gotten themselves into trouble again."

"Of course they have. They always do."

"True."

-8o8-

Omake

"Tyki? W-what are you doing?"

Allen pressed against the leg of the table, trying to separate himself from the Portuguese man.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Tyki said with a grin, leering at the boy.

"I think you're taking advantage of me, you twit," Allen said, cheeks a light pink.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Allen?" Tyki frowned, confused.

Allen blinked. "Then what were you doing?" Allen demanded.

"Trying to get the deck of cards you had." Tyki raised his eyebrows.

"Sure didn't seem like it," Allen muttered, miffed.

"Someone's a bit dirty-minded," Tyki smirked.

"I am not," Allen denied hotly.

"Uh-huh," Tyki said a bit too agreeable. "Want to play a round?"

Allen scowled. "This is hardly the time to play a card game."

Tyki shrugged, shuffling the cards with practiced ease. "Your loss."

Allen eyed the cards.

"Deal me in," Allen finally said, earning a triumphant grin from Tyki.

"Knew you'd give in."

"If I had a penny for every time I told you to shut up..."

* * *

**...Sorry? Ehehe...*looks away from glaring readers***

**Thanks to those of you who messaged me and told me to hurry up and update. Sorry if it's a bit short. :)**

**Reviews make me happy. Really, they do. And do you know what happiness leads to? Yes, you guessed it, _updates_. So therefore, you should review! :) (Me and my logic should not be judged under any circumstances. That is all.)**


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